#WeAreConfidentMotherhood: Katie
AUTHOR KATIE RIVERA FOR CONFIDENT MOTHERHOOD
Hi Mammas! I'm so glad you're here. To learn and to grow with us, to laugh when we want to cry. I'm Katie, a Midwest mamma of two. I made my husband promise we wouldn't end up in the Midwest (I don't do snow). Five years later, here we are in Iowa. My motherhood journey began a bit differently than most.
I was a foster mom before I was a biological mom. It felt like I shared the responsibility of motherhood with the state. They made decisions for my son but I cared for him. I couldn't sign on the parent line for him or make any of his medical decisions but I could hold that baby close and whisper to him how much I adored him. I could tell him that he was valuable and worthy. Three months after our son came to live with us I gave birth to our biological daughter, Andi Grace. I was struggling with all of the newness of being 'first time mom' yet I had both a 16 month old and a newborn. I was sleep deprived and anxious. Most days I cried and I wanted to give up. If I'm being authentic, I felt that the joy of motherhood had been stolen from me. I saw all of these social media feeds with moms looking so peaceful with a toddler in one hand and a newborn in the other. I couldn't understand why I too didn't look or feel that way. We joked that we had two kids in three months. We ushered in sleepless nights and postpartum depression. We shuffled between feedings, court dates, foster care visits and lots of diapers. It was a whirlwind. I'm thankful that there was abundant grace, laughter and a whole lot of coffee. Honestly, I'm thankful that there is still abundant grace, laughter and a whole lot of coffee.
I think I became a mother when I realized that no one could determine how extravagantly I would love my children; foster, adoptive or biological. I think I became a mother when I became fiercely protective over the lives that I had been entrusted to lead. I became a mother when I stopped believing the lies of what the world wanted me to believe of motherhood. I'm Katie. Wife, mamma, foster care advocate, photographer and a follower of Jesus. And a believer that together, we can live a #confidentmotherhood
