I wasn't prepared for the physical toll of motherhood

The author admitted she wasn't prepared for how physical the act of mothering would be.

Courtesy of Sassica Francis-Bruce.

Motherhood is painful, truly painful at times.

Aside from pregnancy and giving birth, there are the near-daily attacks on my body from my kids.

I love them fiercely, and I'm working hard to keep up with them.

I never expected motherhood to be so painful.

Literally, it hurts.

Not even fracturing my rib during the third trimester of one of my pregnancies equates to the pain of mothering day after day, after day.

It is a contact sport, parkour, and weightlifting, all wrapped up in a marathon.

It's intense, relentless, and not at all what I envisioned.

For me, it started postpartum Before I had children , I thought pregnancy and birth would be the toughest parts physically.

In reality, the physical demands truly begin immediately after birth, when your body is already working hard to recover while functioning on little sleep .

There are the standard breastfeeding ailments of engorged breasts, cracked nipples, and sore neck and back from hunching over while a midwife squashes your breast into a burger patty in an attempt to help the baby latch correctly.

And don't forget about De Quervain's tenosynovitis. 'De Querva-what?,' I asked the doctor when he diagnosed me.