Cancer Mom's Story of Expectations Versus Reality of Motherhood

Myrna Scales joins the podcast for a personal interview. Myrna is a young mother who shares her experience as a cancer mom. Her youngest was diagnosed with cancer when he was just 3 months old.

We discuss the expectations we all have for motherhood and how reality can lead to anxiety or depression.

Here are some highlights of our conversation: Expectations Versus Reality of Motherhood.

For the complete interview, you can listen here.

Myrna starts off the interview by describing how scary it was to have her youngest child diagnosed with cancer.

When we’re faced with difficult circumstances:

“Sometimes you have to go through a struggle to become who you’re supposed to be, even though it’s ugly and sometimes sad and chaotic.”

“I ask for help if I need help, I don’t put everything on myself and some days are better than others.”

expectations of motherhood versus reality

We discuss the expectations of motherhood versus reality and how instead we can give ourselves and our children more grace. As Myrna says, “I don’t put pressure on myself anymore for everything to be perfect.”

“My expectations before were super high with everything, and when it didn’t happen or it was too hard, I would quit. And then the only thing that I couldn’t quit is being a mom. It taught me grit and determination.”

“This experience has taught me that I need to check on how I’m feeling and what I want.”

The unspoken truth about motherhood:

“Nobody really talks about how hard it’s [motherhood] gonna be when things don’t go exactly the way that you plan.”

What Myrna tells new mothers:

“Set realistic expectations for your baby for yourself. If you plan to have a natural birth, that’s amazing. But know your head, if it doesn’t happen, that’s okay. And if you want to breastfeed and it doesn’t work out that’s okay.”

“New mothers, they’re expecting all these things and they’re idealizing parenthood. And then when they’re not getting exactly what they want, it, it increases depression and anxiety.”