What March Taught Me About Marriage, Motherhood, and Trusting My Gut

March always feels like a month of contrasts for me—a season where joy and reflection collide. They say you can’t fully appreciate the good without the hard, or see the beauty of light without the shadows. And every March, I’m reminded of just how true that is.

March marks the beginning of my life as Chelsey Diaz!

Our wedding anniversary falls this month, and this year, Stephen and I are celebrating 12 years of marriage.

Twelve years of love.

Twelve years of growing up together.

Twelve years of building a life beyond what we could’ve imagined when we said “I do.”

When I flip through my old journals, I get emotional seeing our journey in black and white. The big dreams, the challenges, the prayers answered, and the ones still in the works. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the life we’ve built and the adventures still ahead.

But March also carries another story for me—one that’s etched in my heart forever.

This is the time of year we welcomed our son, Ollie, into the world. A few weeks after his birth, my mama intuition kicked into high gear. I noticed something about his color that didn’t sit right with me. People told me I was probably just being an overly worried new mom, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.

I’m so thankful I didn’t ignore that inner voice.

What started as a gut feeling turned into a whirlwind of hospital visits, an airlift, and one of the scariest nights of our lives. Sitting beside him in that hospital, praying harder than I’d ever prayed, I learned what it meant to hold fear and faith in the same moment.

Thankfully, Ollie is here today—happy, healthy, and full of life. But my heart still remembers. And every March, my body reminds me of the weight of those moments. Trauma has a way of lodging itself in the body, even when our minds want to move past it.

So each year, I try to meet March with intentionality.

I give myself permission to feel it all: the joy, the gratitude, the reflection, the lingering grief of that terrifying season. I move my body, eat nourishing foods, and make space to process the emotions that surface.

Because March isn’t just about looking back—it’s about honoring the journey that brought us here.

Life is never just one emotion. It’s a beautiful, messy, sacred mix of everything: joy and fear, celebration and stillness, love and resilience.

So here’s to March. A month where we remember, celebrate, and feel it all.