Wrapped in the wetness of her tears, she sobbed silently. In the backdrop, her concerned husband cradled the niggly baby into a slumber.

“Why is she crying and why can’t I make her stop?”

These words of horror rambled through the already exhausted brain, of the tired new Mom. Her sunken eyes told the tale of many sleepless evenings of constant worries.

“Why is the baby crying?

“Are you breastfeeding?””

Why does she have a blue mark?”

“Are you are you know what you are doing?”

“My babies never did that?”

“Is that normal?”

Perfect standards and high expectations of immediate family members has dragged her into an abyss of immense doubt.

“Am I good mother?”

“You are a very good Mother, my dear ” rhetorically answered her worried husband as he lulled the baby into a sleepier state. His words of beautiful encouragement fell on deaf ears, ears that has already been filled by constant doubt… constant criticism…the constant need for perfection and long list of unrealistic expectations set by outsiders. The restless baby eventually found her peace, as she closed her eyes and settled for the evening, while the new mother still intensely haunted by the shattering words of unkind and deeply unrealistic expectations.