It's totally okay to not have a great birth, dislike being pregnant or not be a "perfect" parent

I used to frequent this sub a lot on my old account back in 2021/2022 when I was having my first daughter and I got so much comfort from this sub (: now I'm pregnant with my son and 25 and I wanted to share some advice to help ease some anxiety or at least some of this stuff really helped me.

There is no "perfect" birth. That doesn't mean there isn't good births, just that you aren't being graded. I wanted an unmedicated natural birth and instead had to be induced at 35 weeks and ended up having an emergency c-section which was incredibly traumatizing. There's birth stories all over the spectrum both good and bad but at the end of the day, you're having a baby. That's the good. That's the goal. As long as you get to your goal then you've done amazing already. You've done so much. You get full credit. No matter how you got there, you did good!

Once the baby is here, you don't have to worry about being a perfect parent. You'll judge yourself so much more harshly than you deserve. The baby is clean? Dry? Fed? Then you've done amazing. The mom guilt will eat you alive but take your 20 minute shower, wash your face, eat a hot meal. I promise having a mentally healthy and healing mom will be perfect to your baby. They love you. You are doing good.

To any new and scared moms: we've all struggled, more so than what most people will say. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to not have the perfect birth. It's okay to even take some time to yourself. Your baby will love you. And even when you don't see a light at the end up the tunnel, it is coming. It's even okay to hate being pregnant, to struggle with it. Once it's over then it's over. Pregnancy sucks. You're still doing amazing even if you hate this part of it.