'I wish I was forewarned': Mum admits she wasn't prepared for this part of motherhood

Zoe Marshall welcomed her first child just last month, and, just like any new mum, she is completely and utterly besotted with her son.

However, that doesn't mean that it has been all plain sailing since baby Benjamin Fox arrived. 

Taking to Instagram recently, the radio presenter admitted that she was not prepared for how overwhelming it all would be.  

Uploading a picture of her in bed crying, the mum-of-one, who is married to New Zealand rugby league player Benji, wrote: 

"Overwhelmed, after crying in my room for an hour. Benji had been playing away and I just couldn’t handle any of it. I felt bad for wanting some space to breathe and weep.

 

A post shared by Zoe Marshall (@zoebmarshall) on Mar 18, 2018 at 1:26pm PDT

"I felt scared that I didn’t know what Fox needed. I was so incredibly exhausted. Hungry. Depleted. Sad. Confused. Week 2 and 3 was so hard for me..

"I hadn’t left the house in days. I couldn’t catch up with life. Couldn’t bare to see visitors. I wasn’t myself and wasn’t managing. Why didn’t parents talk about this phase? I felt so alone. Isolated."

Continuing, the Australian explained that she posted the photo to show the "realness" of motherhood.

"The days of not getting time to eat, of poo explosions (Foxes not mine), of never-ending laundry and dishes, of crying over nothing, of not being able to sleep when you get to have a sleep, of the sore neck, wrists, back, nipples, of butting heads with your partner and scrolling google for answers…

"Not to mention the healing your body is going through, pants that don’t fit, strength you no longer have in your body.

"It’s a hard, hard time."

 

This is me. Overwhelmed, after crying in my room for an hour. Benj had been playing away and I just couldn’t handle any of it. I felt bad for wanting some space to breathe and weep. I felt scared that I didn’t know what Fox needed. I was so incredibly exhausted. Hungry. Depleted. Sad. Confused. Week 2 and 3 was so hard for me.. I hadn’t left the house in days. I couldn’t catch up with life. Couldn’t bare to see visitors. I wasn’t myself and wasn’t managing. Why didn’t parents talk about this phase? I felt so alone. Isolated. There’s going to be so many joyful times with baby Fox shared on social media. I need to show you the realness too, the days of not getting time to eat, of poo explosions (Foxes not mine), of never ending laundry and dishes, of crying over nothing, of not being able to sleep when you get to have a sleep, of the sore neck, wrists, back, nipples, of butting heads with your partner and scrolling google for answers.. not to mention the healing your body is going through, pants that don’t fit, strength you no longer have in your body. It’s a hard hard time. As glorious as having a little miracle is we need to acknowledge the transition into parenthood and how challenging that can be.. I’m having much better days now with a few of these thrown in for good measure (like the last two days- brutal). This isn’t post natal depression it’s transition and I wish I was forewarned. I’d love to know I’m not alone.. what was the biggest challenge for you?

A post shared by Zoe Marshall (@zoebmarshall) on Mar 26, 2018 at 1:28pm PDT

Calling her feelings a "transition" rather than post natal depression, the mum-of-one asked her followers to share their challenges of motherhood to help her feel less alone. 

"You are not alone, I’m the same as you and this is my second baby, they are all different. I’m learning to take one day at a time. Sending lots of hugs," wrote one. 

Another said: "Reading this post reminds me of week 1 + 2 with my baby, literally felt exactly the same way! I had no idea why Mila was so unsettled, she cat napped all day and I felt like she was always on the boob, I didn’t know at the time I hardly had any milk and she was basically hungry the whole time!

"When I started supplement feeding with formula it was like everything fell into place and we began a routine and I felt so on top of it! Trust me, it will all just click one day and the first few hard weeks will be a blur! Just know you are completely normal, and you are doing a great job!"