Repeat mothers are assumed to know what to expect during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir is the moving, raw account of a second-time mother who finds herself struggling for the first time with postpartum depression, anxiety and motherhood itself. Only as a mother of two does Emily find herself unable to ignore the impossible tempo of motherhood. At eight-months postpartum, Emily finds motherhood to be punctuated with unexpected sensations of irritability and feelings of rage all lathered in immobilizing guilt and shame. Readers witness the author’s personal evolution through her internal review and deconstruction of self and her examination of maternal expectations. It is through this journey of examining and feeling that truly opens up the unexpected possibilities of understanding and what it means to be content in motherhood.

Emily Adler Mosqueda, M.S., CCC-SLP (she/her/ella) is a second-generation Mexican-American. In 2018, Emily experienced postpartum depression and anxiety and began an alternative healing journey. Her memoir Unexpected chronicles her experience. Since 2009, Emily has professionally practiced as a bilingual and bicultural pediatric speech-language pathologist and currently is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervisor at the University of Oregon, USA. She is married and a mother to two daughters. Unexpected is her second book. Learn more at www.emilyadlermosqueda.com

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