Photography by Brandi Stage Portraiture | Hair and makeup by Alicia Wortel, Electric Lady Hair Studio | Location: Mississippi Aquarium
Like many pregnant women, Ieshia McArthur worried whether she was ready for a child and would make a good mom.
But once her “rainbow baby,” Jaycee, arrived last November, self-doubt soon gave way to overwhelming gratitude.
“I remember holding her when she was a week old and telling her, ‘I’m so proud for you to be my daughter,’ and I felt like God whispered that same thing over me,” the Gulfport resident recalls. “It healed me in ways I didn’t know I needed and reassured me that neither I nor my daughter have to be perfect because we are already so loved.”
“I remember holding her when she was a week old and telling her, ‘I’m so proud for you to be my daughter…’” Ieshia McArthur
And since welcoming Jaycee with her husband, Tyrell, McArthur has been constantly learning and evolving. While she jokes that being a good mom means “keeping the kids alive,” McArthur adds that “feeding” a child involves far more than food.
“Make sure you don’t kill their spirit while keeping their body alive,” she says. “You won’t always be perfect, of course, but kids are tiny adults who need the same love and support you wish you had.”
As McArthur navigates motherhood, while simultaneously pursuing her passions and career aspirations, her own mom, Irene Magee, is watching with admiration. Seeing McArthur bond with Jaycee reminds Magee of the joy and love she felt when her daughter entered the world.
“Motherhood looks great on her; she has such a glow when I see her,” Magee says. “I hope that as she grows and challenges arise that she never loses sight of her purpose as a mother, that she never gives up and that she extends the same grace that our heavenly father has extended toward us.”
“Motherhood looks great on her; she has such a glow when I see her. I hope that as she grows and challenges arise that she never loses sight of her purpose as a mother, that she never gives up and that she extends the same grace that our heavenly father has extended toward us.” Irene Magee, Ieshia’s mother
ADJUSTING, LEARNING AND GROWING
McArthur is learning motherhood on the job while maintaining her many other roles and responsibilities. Holding a bachelor’s in marketing from the University of South Alabama and a master’s in Christian leadership from Kentucky Christian University, she helps with her husband’s photography and videography business, All Things McArthur, while also working and serving in their ministry, Empowerment Ministries Christian Center. In her scant free time, McArthur helps people organize and create faith-based plans for their lives via her website: www. imieshiadanielle.com.
The challenge of trying to balance work, personal projects and, of course, a baby, is one to which many moms can relate.
“Some days, I’m barely getting the extra things done, or I get very little ‘me’ time right now because my baby always wants to be under me, and I secretly never want to be away from her,” McArthur says.
While parenthood has required countless adjustments, like working in the middle of the night so she doesn’t fall behind or grabbing food on the go because she’s too tired to cook, McArthur wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Sometimes I take off my rose-colored glasses and things aren’t always as shiny as they once were when reality sets in,” she says, “but I try to put them on every day and start my day with a grateful heart so that I can appreciate all of the good things instead of focusing on the small, negative things.”
‘THE BEST AND CUTEST BABY IN THE WORLD’
In little Jaycee, McArthur sees only possibility and positivity. The cheerful 7-month-old, whom her mother calls the “best and cutest baby in the world,” is almost always smiling and laughing.
“She’s full of spirit and personality, and she’s extremely vocal,” McArthur, says. “Overall, she is the funniest little baby, and she makes my world so much brighter and makes me so grateful to be a mom — but even more so a girl mom.”
Guided by the Bible, as well as wisdom gleaned from her own mother and others, McArthur aspires to create a home that is a peaceful safe haven for her family. Despite the lack of sleep, she is reveling in this new phase of life and appreciating how it has changed her.
“I love who it’s making me become and all of the new and exciting experiences,” she says. “I also look forward to just waking up every day to my baby’s beautiful little smiling face when she knows her mama has walked into her room to get her from sleep.”
Surprising even herself, McArthur has come to love breastfeeding — although it was painful at first and involves a part of her body that once made her self-conscious. This persistence did not go unnoticed by Magee, nor did her daughter’s determination to always do what’s best for her baby — from her eating habits to the shampoo and bath wash she uses.
“My hopes and prayers for (Ieshia) are, number one, to not to lose herself in the process of being a wife and a mother,” Magee says. “Oftentimes as women, we feel guilty for doing things for ourselves. My prayer is that she continues to develop every gift God has placed inside of her and soar.”
‘I HOPE SHE LOVES HERSELF FIERCELY’
Most recently, McArthur has been applying her talents to a project called “Between Me & You” — a podcast featuring open, honest conversations about emotions and unspoken traumas.
“It’s an opportunity to bring things to light so we don’t live in darkness,” she says. “I believe shame and condemnation live in our secrets, and just hearing that others have been where we are helps us to come to a place of healing. So we talk about pretty much any and every struggle that people have overcome, whether that’s mentally, emotionally, financially. relationally or spiritually.”
McArthur is on a mission to free people from shame and condemnation, which has influenced her approach to motherhood. When it comes to Jaycee, she explains, “I realized I never want my daughter to feel ashamed about anything.”
“I hope that she loves herself fiercely, that she gives herself the same grace that she gives to other people when they mess up, that she stays generous and thoughtful of others, that she’s never afraid to be vulnerable with me, and that she doesn’t let people make her think she’s high maintenance for having high standards for what she wants in life,” McArthur says. “Above all, I want her to be filled with joy.”
Ieshia’s advice to other new moms:
“Put systems in place to get things done quickly and efficiently so that you can be as present in the moment as humanly possible.”