When a woman carries a child there is so much that comes with it. So many emotions and changes you experience while you are growing a life for 40 weeks. We all know the physical changes you go through, along with the emotional changes, but the most important change is the mental one. You never realize how such a small person who you don’t even know can come in and change your way of thinking or your way of being. I would say that being pregnant alone gives you a whole new purpose, just because you have a child to love, cherish, and nurture for the rest of your life. And while that may be true, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

While I was pregnant with Dallas 3 years ago, I was 27/28. A few years into being married, traveling the world, and struggling with finding my purpose. I would be lying to you if I told you I was this young innocent girl, just enjoying life and living carefree. Although I was living a pretty good life in Italy, I was also going through an identity crisis, which later turned into me “Painting my Purpose.” With Dallas my purpose was to find Dana, and get back to what God called me to do. While that is still my purpose, this go around my purpose has grown into so much more.

You see…when you have a kid, you start understanding why your parents would say “I want my kid(s) to have a better life than I had.” But when you’re a woman and you have two little girls that saying not only holds a lot of weight, but your purpose also holds so much more. When I first had Dallas and decided to go ahead and start my blog I didn’t know how in the world I would make it all work. In my mind there was no way I could make breastfeeding around the clock, Jarrod’s games, maintaining the household, and having a nine-hour time difference from the US work. It may not seem like a lot, but it was, and somehow, I managed to do it. My purpose at the time was me getting back to me. I was finding Dana again, and I had to navigate new waters to do so. That was only a year ago and to be honest I’m still finding my way. But with the help of my amazing tribe I’ve been able to tap into more and more each day.

In a few weeks, I’ll have two amazing daughters — one that is two going on 13, and a newborn. Believe it or not my drive right now is through the roof. There’s so much I want to do and say that oftentimes I get so excited with my thoughts I feel like I’m going to explode. Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This pregnancy may have been a rough one but the beauty that will come out of it will outweigh all of the bad.

“Purpose is an essential element of you, it is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you need to fulfill.”

In the words of the late Chadwick Boseman