There's A Name For The Ups And Downs Of New Motherhood: It's Called Matrescence

First-time mom Priscilla Koczon, 39, loved being pregnant and expected to feel much the same way about being a mother. "I fantasized that it would just be really easy, that I would instantly connect with my baby, and my maternal instinct would kick in," says Koczon, who lives with her husband and two-month-old daughter in New Jersey. Instead, she found herself grappling with mixed emotions and a changing identity as she struggled to find her footing. "Motherhood is hard," she says, admitting a simple truth that isn't always acknowledged.

Becoming a mother is a huge, complicated life transition that can rock every fiber of a person's being. The process even has its own name: matrescence. And while this term may seem relatively new, it was actually coined in the 70's by medical anthropologist Dana Raphael. "She kicks off a lot of her writings saying that in some cultures we say, 'a woman has given birth,' but