May Mama 2026 | Stéphanie: A Story of Strength, Burnout, and Coming Back to Herself

Mom of the Month | Series No. 2

We’re back with our Mom of the Month series — and if you read our first feature, you already know what this is about: no filters, no perfectly curated highlight reels, just real women sharing the unedited truth of their motherhood journeys.

This month, we are pouring a double shot for Stéphanie — a licensed practical nurse, mom of two girls (ages 7 and 11), and someone who has navigated burnout, an emergency C-section she’s still processing, breastfeeding grief, and the beautiful chaos of building a life she’s genuinely proud of. She lives on the South Shore of Montreal with her partner and daughters, and she embodies something we talk about a lot here at Espresso Mamitis: the idea that strength isn’t always loud. Sometimes it looks like falling apart, sitting by a fire in the middle of the night, and quietly choosing to come back.

Pull up a chair, grab your coffee — and meet Stéphanie. 

Rock and Roll Mornings and a 5:45 a.m. Alarm

Let’s start with a Wednesday morning at Stéphanie’s house, because honestly — it tells you everything you need to know about her.

She works in Montreal three days a week, which means on those mornings, she’s out the door at 5:45 a.m. Her partner holds down the fort, getting their two daughters fed, dressed, and out the door — because that’s what teamwork actually looks like in a real family. On the days Stéphanie is home, she and her partner are a two-person machine: lunches, backpacks, the youngest complaining that her sister is bothering her, the oldest insisting it’s absolutely not her fault. (Sounds familiar, anyone?)

“Between all of that,” she laughs, “we really can’t wait to start the coffee maker when we get up.”

Same, Stéphanie. Same.

The Woman Who Helps Others Become Parents

There’s something quietly profound about Stéphanie’s career. For 16 years, she’s been a licensed practical nurse — two and a half of those in prenatal care, and two and a half in fertility. Every day, she sits alongside families at the very beginning of their dream: the hope, the waiting, the longing to become a parent.

“Working in fertility makes you see motherhood from a completely different angle,” she shares. “Having empathy, commitment, dedication for this specialty that works miracles — that’s what gets me out of bed every morning.”

It changed her perspective on her own life too. She feels genuinely grateful for her girls. Not in a performative way — in the deep, quiet, I know what it costs some people to have this kind of way.

How It All Began — and What Nobody Tells You

Stéphanie became a mother at 23, almost 24. It was planned — but it worked on the first try, which surprised even her. Their second daughter arrived a little less than four years later, and with her came a bigger house, bigger dreams, and a family of four built from two people who chose each other first.

But here’s what Stéphanie wanted to make sure she shared — even though exhaustion made her forget it during her interview: her first pregnancy ended in an emergency C-section. And there was grief in that. Real, significant grief. On top of that, breastfeeding didn’t work out the way she had hoped.

“I’m so tired that I missed some things,” she wrote to us afterward — which is, honestly, the most honest and relatable sentence a mother has ever sent us.

We see you, Stéphanie. We’re glad you circled back.

The Invisible Load (And the Laundry That Never Ends)

When we asked about her mental load, Stéphanie’s answer was immediately recognizable to every mother reading this.

“Always having a load of laundry in the washer and dryer. Wiping down counters that get messy every day — even though only we see them. It becomes an obsession.”

She used to keep every appointment, birthday, and invitation in her head. Then she had children, and — her words — “my brain just left.” Now there’s a family calendar. There has to be.

The invisible tabs. The mental gymnastics. The emotional labor that doesn’t show up in any job description but runs quietly in the background of every single day. Stéphanie gets it, lives it, and — importantly — doesn’t pretend otherwise.

The Wall

This is the part of Stéphanie’s story that we think deserves to be read slowly.

Several years ago, she hit a wall. A big one. One she never saw coming.

At the time, she was working at the hospital — double shifts, night into day, day into evening, regularly logging 16-hour stretches. She was also a mom of two young children, with a partner who was also working hard. The accumulation was quiet at first. Then it wasn’t.

“I had to stop everything to recharge a battery that had completely stopped working.”

The burnout lasted months.

What helped her climb back? Writing. Music. And fire — literal outdoor bonfires that she’d sit beside until she fell asleep under the sky, waking up in the night to eventually go inside. The fire calmed something in her that words couldn’t reach.

Her partner showed up in a way she’ll never forget. “He supported me with absolute understanding — despite everything I put him through during that time.”

She came back to herself slowly, quietly, stubbornly. And then she went back to work. Back to her patients. Back to the specialty she loves. Because she couldn’t imagine leaving it.

That, right there, is the Espresso Mamitis kind of story. Not triumphant from the start — honest about the bottom, and brave enough to climb anyway.

On Guilt, Patience

When asked about maternal guilt, Stéphanie didn't mention working too much or missing school events. Although she admits that sometimes happens, that's life—nobody can go to school activities or outings every single time! She also talked about sometimes losing her patience.

"When I'm tired and raise my voice—I don't want to be the angry mom who yells at her kids. But sometimes it's the only way to get them to stop for a second and listen to what I have to say or stop bickering. Because we all know kids don't listen the first time!"

It’s such a human, honest answer. And it’s one so many of us carry in silence, as if frustration makes us bad mothers instead of tired humans.

The One Thing She Wants Moms to Stop Judging Themselves For

“The perfect photo. The perfect family. Can we just show reality?”

Stéphanie is fully over the curated Instagram version of motherhood. The stained shirt. The crooked pigtail. The messy background. She wants to see real life — and frankly, so do we. (It’s kind of the whole reason Espresso Mamitis exists.)

Her Village — and What It Took to Accept Help

Her own family has been in Mont-Tremblant for 14 years. But Stéphanie has built something meaningful where she is: a close-knit support system through her partner’s family, who have shown up for her since day one. And friends who have become a second family.

She didn’t have the village handed to her. She built it — and she learned, the hard way, that needing it isn’t weakness.

What She’s Proud Of (The Kind That Goes Unnoticed)

We asked Stéphanie what she’s proud of as a mother — the kind of thing that rarely gets acknowledged.

Her answer? Showing her daughters what a strong woman looks like.

“Showing them that nothing is impossible. Even when you fall, you get back up.”

She’s been doing exactly that, right in front of them, for years. They’re watching. And one day, they’ll understand exactly what it cost her — and exactly what she chose to do anyway.

Her Advice to Any Mom Who’s Struggling Right Now

“Surround yourself with the right people. Talk. Take time for yourself — because when we take care of ourselves, we’re in a better position to keep taking care of our family.”

Simple. Concrete. True.

Why Espresso Mamitis?

When we asked Stéphanie what a community like ours means to her, she said something that made us smile.

“It’s great to have the perspective of moms who own their truth, who don’t put a filter on the real things in life. A good coffee in hand while reading a blog from people like you.”

And then she added: “I love coffee so much — I even have one tattooed on my wrist.”

She is, officially, one of us.

And Finally — If Motherhood Were a Coffee Drink…

A cappuccino. Without hesitation.

“The bold espresso that wakes you up just enough to get through the day — with the warm, frothy milk that brings a comforting sweetness.”

Stéphanie in a cup. We couldn’t have said it better.

Thank you, Stéphanie, for trusting us with your story — including the parts you almost forgot to share. You are exactly the kind of mom this community was built for.

Did her story resonate with you?  Leave a comment below or share it with a mom who needs to read it today. And if you missed our first Mom of the Month feature, head to espressomamitis.com to catch up. - @stephy_gosselin -