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We had the honour of having this beautiful mama and baby duo at our first Naetal photoshoot. A year later, Kayla shares her postpartum experience as a mother to her angel baby Skip and little Stella.

Photo: Jenzel Velo
July 13, 2022 •  3 min read

 

MEET KAYLA BOTTIGLIERI, MAMA TO BABY STELLA.

In three words, what does Motherhood mean to you?

LOVE - my motherhood is rooted in love. Wether it’s for myself, my daughter and everyone I cross paths with. I am able to go through all the highs and lows of motherhood with forgiveness and love for all. 

 

PLAY - my motherhood journey has been full of inner child work and acknowledging the beauty and purity that play holds for our children. To play requires presence, in turn presence requires play. Where society tells us we need to stifle or tame out play and presence, motherhood has given me the opportunity to awaken the sides of myself I truly honour. 

 

UNITY- something that has shocked me the most about motherhood is that it is relevant to every facet of life. Birth. Sex. Death. It is all connected to the mother. The journey of life is meant to be explored, shamelessly, and with all intention of experiencing fully. When you are able to acknowledge every emotion and every experience fully, you come into your own unity and that is where my motherhood journey has brought colours to my life I didn’t know existed. 

 

During your pregnancy or postpartum, what does self-care look like for you?

Self-care for me personally touches on every aspect of myself. It is both physical and mental and should be treated as such. As my body changed rapidly and uncontrollably during pregnancy I took care of my mental space by repeating daily affirmations and having the support of a therapist to bounce my heavy emotions on. I created routine for myself that included Pilates, walking, stretching and nourishing my body not only with what I put in my body but on it.
Through motherhood I been dedicated to allotting time for my mental and physical health all while carving out alone time which is still so important to me.

 

Photo: Kayla

 

How did your postpartum period look like?

For myself and so many others (although I wish this wasn’t the case), the initiation into motherhood can be traumatic. In my case I had a caesarean birth along with residual feelings surrounding my birth that affected my healing. I was left with an infected incision upon leaving the hospital that affected the closure of the wound(as well as uterine pain, pain with working out and pain with sex) and left me looking for answers. To find a practitioner who believes you, who advocates for you and who supports you in the lengthy process, in my case 19 months later, is my personal experience. To touch in the emotional trauma, EMDR therapy has truly been a life saver. It has helped me to neutralize the trauma and accept my feelings towards the situation while not having a debilitating reaction to the feelings. 

 

How has Motherhood changed you?

After a miscarriage in 2017 and a birth in 2020 I have two babies. One I keep in my heart and that changed me drastically, opened my mind to the vastness of loss and grief and opened my heart to the empathy and compassion of mental health and the lack of awareness in our world. One that lives earth-side with me who changed me dramatically, opened my eyes to my own inner child and teaches me daily how to hold myself while holding others. The most beautiful, turbulent transition that has left me in a state of calm.

 

Photo: Kayla

 

 

 

 

 

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