How has being a Mom changed you?

I was talking with my husband the other week and discussing how much we love our son (as we frequently do…we are slightly obsessed with him, haha).  During that conversation we started talking about how our lives have changed so  much since having Brody.  There is a lot of truth in the warnings you get before having a child that “your life will never be the same”.    But one thing we started talking about is not so much how our lives have change, but how much WE have changed.  There are numerous ways I can think of in how I feel I have changed since having Brody, but one thing that sticks out to me is how much more confident I am now.  Of course I still have plenty of insecurities, as any woman usually does, but in general I feel like a much more confident person.  I am much better about standing up for myself when I need to, I care A LOT less what people think of me, and I am not as shy to speak my mind.  I’m not sure how or why these changes have happened in me…maybe it’s simply because I am “growing up”, but I have to believe that being given the wonderful gift of motherhood has instilled a remarkable sense of pride, courage, and confidence in me that I never would have guessed.

A funny side-story to this is that I was talking to my sister about this topic one time and she mentioned that her husband even said something to her about it once.   They were pregnant with their second at the time and discussing the plans to have a VBAC after some complications with the first pregnancy resulted in a planned C-Section.  My brother-in-law said to my sister “Child birth changes a woman, I think”.  My sister asked him “in what way?”.  And he said, “I don’t know, but don’t you think Jackie is tougher now?  She just seems so much more tough now to me”.    I thought that was funny he put it that way.  But when she told me this story, I had to say…I don’t think it was child-birth that made me “tougher”, I think it’s just simply being a mom.

So, what do you think?  Do you feel you have changed since becoming a mother?  And if so…in what way/s?