Welcome back!
I had to share this information with you about the newly released paperback version of The Second Nine Months today! Vicki Glembocki has a special place in my heart as my very first guest on The Mommy-Muse Is In: Empowering Your Journey into Motherhood.
“Oh my, she”™s beautiful!” says a sing-song voice. “Is being a mother amazing?” The new mother looks up and gives her friend a quick, exhausted smile: “of course.” Because what else can you say?
Women talk about everything“”difficulties of working motherhood, weight issues, problems in their marriages. But new mothers don”™t admit that you won”™t feel like yourself again for a long time. It”™s the most disruptive change you can make. And yet we tell each other it”™s wonderful. Vicki Glembocki sets the record straight in her hilarious, frank, and spot-on memoir The Second Nine Months- One Woman Tells the REAL Truth About Becoming a Mom. Finally.
She”™s not talking about a clinical diagnosis of postpartum depression, which does garner serious media coverage, but instead about an adjustment that a doctor will tell you is “normal” even as it affects your every waking moment. “I wish I had postpartum,” writes Glembocki. “Postpartum would be a very acceptable explanation for why I”™m feeling the way I am.”
Mothers will recognize themselves in her tales of everyday with baby. There are stories about her panic of being alone with the baby for the first time, the consequences of forgetting her breast pump when she leaves home, and the dynamics of “Baby and Me” outings. But what”™s more, Glembocki finally admits the truth: it”™s damn hard.
Glembocki reveals what others wouldn”™t dare say out loud lest they”™d be judged as “bad moms.” Maternal bliss is not always innate, sometimes it”™s learned. There will be moments that you”™re sure you”™re doing everything wrong, times when you”™ll despise your husband and resent your mom”™s advice, and many days when you can”™t reconcile who you once were with who you”™ve become. Hers is not every mom”™s experience””Glembocki admits she had a perfect storm of issues””but every new mom does go through major growing pains at some point or another.
Such feelings are exacerbated by societal expectations of new motherhood euphoria. An email from a baby website about Twenty Things That Change When You Have a Baby popped into Glembocki”™s inbox one day. It included points like “You finally stop to smell the roses because you have a baby in your arms” and “You become a morning person.” Beliefs like this are why Glembocki wrote this book. “This is exactly why I spent six months feeling like a failure. This should be illegal, all this mommy propaganda”¦that motherhood is immediately and, for ever after, bliss.”
The good news is that the feelings of ambivalence, being overwhelmed and inadequacy don”™t last forever. Glembocki is madly in love with her daughter Blair. But it was a long road. And she connects with readers on a shockingly intimate level””she”™s the perfect companion to walk other women through the tough times.
The Second Nine Months is a great read””it”™s a funny page-turner that you”™ll really enjoy. But then pass it to a new mom friend””to reassure her, in those moments, that she”™s not alone.
“Reading this book felt like sitting down to a glass (or three) of wine with a best friend””a friend brave enough to tell you that the first few months (years) of motherhood are not one giant Hallmark moment. From page one I was riveted, laughing, and moved””and I felt so much less alone! By the last page the only thing missing for me was Vicki”™s phone number.”
“”Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, author of Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay
and Naptime Is the New Happy Hour
“Vicki Glembocki lends her strong voice to the chorus debunking the sentimental myths
of motherhood. This memoir should give new mommies a load of reassurance
during those early, often dark days of caring for a newborn.
Take heart, you’re not alone!”
“”Christie Mellor, author of The Three-Martini Playdate
and The Three-Martini Family Vacation
“With style and wit, she tackles the taboo topics of the challenges, disappointments
and adjustments of modern motherhood.” “”Philadelphia Magazine
“She reveals all the stuff about having a kid that no one tells you.”
“”Women”™s Health
“”¦intelligent and brutally honest mommy memoir”¦
Not since Anne Lamott”™s Operating Instructions has there been such an insightful,
open account of a new mother”™s fears of inadequacy, with wicked humor along the way.”
“”SRQ: Sarasota’s Premier Magazine
You can find out more about Vicki Glembocki and read some of her awesome articles at www.VickiGlembocki.com.
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Wow, this is great reading….really entertaining, can’t wait to hear more. I’m a parent with older kids, this really brings back memories…
Wow, this is great reading….really entertaining, can’t wait to hear more. I’m a parent with older kids, this really brings back memories…
wow this site is very insightful good blogging with great tips keep it coming.
Thanks – it’s great to hear from you!
Let me know what kinds of issues you are most interested in. I’m considering starting a weekly article to address some concerns and questions from parents with older children. Thanks!