Warrior Mom in the Making

I remember the moment when I became a Warrior Mom. I didn't know it at the time and I don't remember the specific date, but I remember the moment. My daughter had had feeding issues since she was two weeks old. We had started the acid reflux medication journey without much improvement. I stopped by my pediatrician's doctor office for a weight check since she still had not met her birth weight. At the pediatrician' office, she still had not made it back to her birth weight and was still having feeding issues. My pediatrician called the hospital and immediately sent us in for a swallow study. My husband was in meetings and I had to get there. I remember thinking "Put on your big girl panties and suck it up." So I did. But that was just the beginning of our journey.

The reason I realized I was a Warrior Mom was this sweet face, now 19 months



Looking back, that was the moment when I became a Warrior Mom. I wasn't putting on my big girl panties, I was donning my shield and my sword, equipping myself with the tools to fight for my daughter. Fight for her health, fight for what was best for her, fight the onslaught of random comments made that cut me to the core. At the time it was a small shield and a maybe a play sword because it was just the surface of our journey that continues today.

I first heard the term "Warrior Mother" from Jenny McCarthy's book. I thought it was a neat name for a group of people I never thought I would identify with. When I became one, I realized how much meaning the term has to it. In today's world, "Warrior Mom" is often a word used to describe a mom fighting for her child with special needs. Because it is a fight. Everyone who considers themself a warrior mom has a different story and a different journey. But we are all just the same. Warriors. Mothers.

Every mother has that fight in them and they fight for their child's needs. I have a friend who is adopting a little girl from China and her warrior mom status has already started before she goes to bring home her little girl. She is already researching on how to best make the transition for her family when her daughter comes home as well as what therapies and support she is going to need when she gets here. The point is that we are ALL warrior moms. We all fight for our children's safety, happiness and well-being. That journey looks different for everyone because God has designed each of our children to be unique. Some journeys are harder at the start, some are harder later on, and some never cease to be difficult. We are often pushed to a capacity we didn't know we were capable of.

When I was in elementary school I remember doing a research project on Joan of Arc. What I remember most was thinking how amazing it was that she was the youngest person documented to command an armies of a nation and she was a WOMAN. (Don't quote me on that - research could show differently now.) We all are equipped in our own unique ways to be warriors and to fight. I cannot imagine how alone and fearful Joan of Arc felt and some days that was exactly how I felt. Now I know my battle was much less scary than hers and I don't want to reach too far to make a comparison but she is just always someone who I have thought about over the years when faced with a tough decision because she made such an impression on me as a young girl.

 



Joan of Arc Painting by Rosetti

Every day I feel like I am adding an extra piece to my armor. Sometimes I feel like it is completed, that there is nothing more I could possibly add to my tool collection. But I'm wrong. Because warrior moms are like clay, constantly being molded so that we can be the best possible warrior for our babies. We are strong. We are resilient. Quite simply, we are mothers. And we are not alone.