In honor of Christianne’s maternity leave we asked some our favorite people to share stories from "the fourth trimester," the period between birth and 12 weeks postpartum during which your baby (or the baby you care for) is adjusting to the world and you're adjusting to your baby). Here are three things Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant Mahaley Patel wish she knew before bringing her baby home.

1. There will be hard days. Yes, I said it. And I don’t say it to scare you. I say it to normalize the ups and downs that parenthood brings for everyone. There will be hard days. There will be days you don’t know what to do to get your baby to stop crying. There will be days you are so tired you cannot see straight. There will be days you fight with your partner. And there may be days you do not recognize the person you see in the mirror. All of this is okay. All of this is normal. I wish someone had prepared me for the hard days – I feel like all people told me about were the beautiful parts of motherhood, and it made me feel so much shame for the hard days because I thought they were unique to me. They were not unique to me, and they are not unique to you. You will have them, and you will also have wonderful blissful days. You have permission to have both, and you are not any less of a mother because you have hard days.

2. Put the books down. I’m talking to my fellow type-A, overachieving mamas. Before I had my daughter, I was certain that I would ace parenthood if I read every book I could find. My daughter is now four, and I look back on those moments and think, “aww, that was cute.” It’s not to say there aren’t wonderful things to learn from parenting books – there are! And I have learned so much from some incredible ones. But my need to find every answer and solve every sleep/feeding/schedule/behavioral problem is that I completely ignored my intuition. I never considered that I might know my daughter better than the books and that I, too, might be a credible source to find some answers.

3. Everyone’s motherhood journey is different. It’s time to stop the mom guilt and shame that I see all too often in the therapy room. Yes, we are all mothers, but we all have different experiences. Some of us had a medicated birth. Some of us didn’t. Some of us enjoyed pregnancy. Some of us didn’t. Some of us struggled with postpartum mental health issues. Some of us didn’t. Some of us choose to have one child. Some of us choose to have four. Some of us adopt. Some of us don’t. Some of us had to do IVF. Some of us didn't. There is no right way except the way that is right for you. Whatever your story - you are enough. You are the perfect mother for your baby—end of story.

- Mahaley

You can find Mahaley here at @mahaley_patel and mahaleypatel.com.