Modern Motherhood with ThirdLove

*This post was sponsored by ThirdLove, but please note that all opinions, content and photos are my own. Thank you for supporting brands who support Style Your Senses.

What comes to your mind when you hear the term “Modern Motherhood?” To me, it has so many meanings and a flood of emotions attached to it. Raising children in any day and age was never considered easy, but being a mom these days is especially rewarding, challenging and has been completely re-defined since our mothers raised us. To me, it means ditching the labels that have plagued motherhood for so long. Society has so often tried to put moms in a box…working moms, stay at home moms, helicopter moms, crunchy moms…it’s almost like you had to pick a box to check and stick with it. Each one felt isolating in its own way and there wasn’t much understanding and/or grace for the other. Being a modern mom means that we are ditching the labels and can be our own kind of mom, on our own terms. We can work from home and raise our babies or we can work from an office and raise our babies, we take the advice that we want, do our homework on our own time, trust our instincts and ultimately raise our kids however we see best. We are a generation of mothers who want it all…being a mom, having a career, being a wife and having a social life…without sacrificing one for the other. No, it’s certainly not easy. Yes, it’s more of a balancing act. But, maintaining my sense of self undoubtedly makes me a better mother to my girls.

Preface: It’s funny, when I start a post sometimes I never know how it’s going to evolve. This one played out so beautifully, opening my eyes to not only to realizing how much I do on a daily basis (affording myself a little extra grace along the way), to appreciating this blog for the community of women that it’s surrounded me with. Long gone are the days when i just sit down and write a post. I wrote this one from a Starbucks while Lawson took her morning nap in her stroller, from my breakfast table that same afternoon while nursing her and typing with one hand, from my bed at 5am with a cup of coffee, from my kitchen counter (while also standing up cooking dinner and carrying Lawson in the Ergo) and from my phone during countless nursing sessions. All the while, I had this term “Modern Motherhood” in my mind and it gave me such a sense of pride. I can do this. I can work from home and raise my babies. And I can use posts like this one to empower the women who read them to choose their path of Modern Motherhood. Writing this also gave me such an overwhelming sense of gratitude. This blog has blessed me with a community of moms who are so supportive and encouraging. It makes the journey even more fun and a lot less isolating. I’m not sure how I’ve been so lucky to have amazing women find my little piece of the web, but I’m unbelievably grateful! Keep reading for some other mama’s perspectives on Modern Motherhood as well, such uplifting words!

When ThirdLove asked me to help launch their new nursing bra, it brought this exact term to mind…Modern Motherhood. ThirdLove is an online brand of base layers created by two women on a mission to give women the perfect fitting bra. Long gone are the days of hunting around department stores, lugging cranky children into fitting rooms and stripping down in front of strangers to get “fit” for a new bra. ThirdLove allows you to shop online for a beautiful and well fit bra and try it on in the comfort of your own home, risk free! Basically, their entire concept from trying the bra on in your own home and on your own terms, to their understanding and appreciation for the fact that not every woman can wear the same bra, to their attention to design details that deliver a beautiful and comfortable fit makes them a perfect fit for what I see as the Modern Mother who really wants it all.

I’ve been wearing their nursing bra for two weeks now and truly it offers the modern mom everything that she wants…comfort, 24-7 wearability and a beautiful base layer that she can still feel confident in.

Nursing Bra | My Pajamas

First and foremost, this bra is SO comfortable! You guys know that I wouldn’t steer you wrong here! It’s made of a super soft cotton modal fabric for breathability and I’m able to wear it all day and night and not think about it. I love that the closure is in the front…it really keeps the “girls” in check and the seamless back really smooths everything over, making it perfect to wear with nearly anything. I hadn’t worn a front closure bra in years and I didn’t realize what a difference it made in regards to smoothing the back and giving easy access.

Long Cardigan | Denim | White Tank 

Speaking of, I really do wear it with nearly anything. It’s such a great go-to everyday bra that doesn’t lack style details. It does a great job of giving me some much needed lift and shape and looks great under t-shirts, tanks and even dressier blouses. I know that I can wear it for a long day of working from home or will still be comfortable in it should I be running around with both girls in tow.

Lastly, I love this is a nursing bra that doesn’t scream HI I’M WEARING A NURSING BRA! This one is still so beautiful designed with gorgeous details to still make you feel confident and sexy. I’d absolutely wear this on a date night and feel pretty wearing it, which is something that’s so important for any postpartum mama.

Nursing Bra // Similar Robe

Ok, I get it, the majority of you aren’t nursing right now, but trust me in that you should really try out ThirdLove. I got lost and fell down a rabbit hole reading all of their rave reviews online and am wondering why in the heck I’m just now trying it out. Here are my favorites. That lace racerback will be mine immediately once I’m done nursing!

Since sometimes being in the trenches of motherhood can be a bit isolating, I wanted to hear what everyone else’s take on the term “Modern Motherhood” was. I asked you guys to share your thoughts with me on Instagram and was SO wonderful and empowering to hear your responses. It lifted me up and definitely made me feel like we are truly all in this together, and though we may not be doing this mom gig all the same way…we all have the common thread in that we love our children something fierce…and that’s enough for me!

“Modern Motherhood is a 32 year old mom who went from 1 kid to 4  in 11 months! We had our daughter who’s now 7, adopted our two boys (now 5 & 7), and found out that we were pregnant with our 4th just 3 months after we got our boys. All while trying to juggle being a 3rd grade teacher!” @elizabethh3

“Modern Motherhood means that I can no longer give 100% to my corporate job. Impossible. On deadlines, in meetings, working through petty things to make that $$- all I’m thinking about is my baby. My family. How to make it work if I were to quit and stay home with her. As for being a mom, my corporate job gets in the way. Not to the untrained eye, but in this day and age emails never stop and the circus is forever churning. Sometimes I dream of being a mom in the days that I grew up.” @mirons

“A modern mom means balance! Time for family, husband, and children, while still maintaining relationships with old friends AND making new mom friends! She also needs to find time for herself though…time to exercise, meal plan, get those greys dyed and toe nails polished. Self care is a must for the modern mom! Lets throw a full time job in there, too! No sweat!” @tbros73704

“A modern mom means showing your child a combinations of hands on love and affections AND also that the world does not revolve around them. The modern mother shoes her family that being a mother is very important to her, but that mommy also has a life outside of the home. The modern mother makes her own money and shows her kids how rewarding it can be to contribute to the family physically, mentally, emotionally and fiscally” @lemonstolovelys

“Modern Motherhood means taking on kids, work, health and relationships/friendships all at once. Our society isn’t what it once was. Our friends aren’t necessarily our neighbors anymore. It takes a lot more effort to coordinate all the aspects of our lives and that’s what I think Modern Motherhood is all about. Making it your own for what fits your life. No two people are doing it the same.” @julie_stanley

“I think that Modern Motherhood means keeping your own identity. So many women let motherhood become their identity exclusively and let go of so many other parts of them. I think modern mothers know the importance of career, hobbies, relationships with friends, your husband, etc. I think that it also means your child is treated with a little more independence and different expectations because we know more now. Long gone are the days of ‘children are meant to be seen, not heard” @mellycoy

“Modern Motherhood is being a straight up professional multi-tasker. I’m a working mom, I work 10 hours a day and come home to work another 5-6 hours being a mom, wife, housekeeper, and everything in between. Modern Moms need to be able to do anything and everything.” @tiffie_havs

“Modern Motherhood means working to find balance; but acknowledging that the ‘perfect’ doesn’t exist.”@twodogsandababe

“Modern Motherhood means balancing life in general…but more importantly giving yourself grace when it gets off balance…because it definitely will” @alissasneed

“Modern Motherhood is being more relaxed, taking and leaving the advice we want, bringing your little to brunch with the girls, accepting that screen time is inevitable but also acknowledging that it isn’t the solution to poor behavior, and inviting your little people to be a part of the world you had before them instead of asking others to visit your new baby-friendly world. To sum it up, Modern Motherhood is the balance of being the mother you’ve always been and the mom you’ve now become!” @traciebiddle

“Modern Motherhood to me means a woman who can balance her children, significant other and work, all while trying to keep her sanity.” @roxy_penguin

“[Modern Motherhood] is the constant juggle and feeling guilty about something all. the. time.” @jackiebardet

“[Modern Motherhood] means being empowered to be whatever kind of mom I want to be without judgement.” @merrisdavey

“Hm…Motherhood means so many things to so many people, but I’d say that Modern Motherhood means trying to raise your kids in a world full of scary things. It means taking EVERYONE’S advice with a grain of salt, because it seems as though everyone thinks they know the best way to raise your babies. Also, Modern Motherhood means being able to lift other mamas up and come together as a big, mama community through social media. Most importantly, Modern Motherhood is still motherhood and that’s simply wanting what’s best for your kids and giving them the best life.” @megculpepper

“[Modern Motherhood] means doing things your own way and encouraging others to do the same…putting away the old school thought that we all have to do this alone and realizing we are all mommas who love our babies and want what’s best for them.” @blushinghairandmakeup

”To me, Modern Motherhood means being the best mom you can be in any capacity you want. I work full time and my daughter goes to daycare. This is the life and, to be honest, I love the life we have created. Spending every second I can with my little family and not feeling bad or guilty for doing this for me will benefit our family in the end.” @kellys_chaos

“Modern Motherhood means being able to do what is best for my family is each season of our lives, without feeling like I have to do things a certain way because ‘I’m supposed to’ and without guilt that I’m doing it my way.” @jaimewellsnash

I’d love to hear what Modern Motherhood means to YOU in the comments 🙂

Thank you to Ashley Louise Photography for these photos. I will treasure them forever.