We're getting real with Erica Galia, mom of two. 23 weeks into baby number three, a surprise-gender the family has nicknamed "G3." Erica has been part of the Nunona family for years now, and she showed up to this conversation the way she shows up to motherhood: honest, grounded, and not interested in pretending.
Motherhood, In One Word
We asked Erica to sum up motherhood in a single word. She laughed, because who actually can. But if she had to pick one, it's freedom.
"Motherhood's all about perspective. For me it's actually been really freeing. A beautiful gift in a multitude of surprising ways. I grew up in that era of pleasing others, following the cookie cutter route of climbing the corporate ladder. Motherhood has given me full permission to lean into who I really am. To be discerning. To create boundaries. To be confident in who I am as a mother."
How Grace Replaced Perfection by Baby Number Three
Two girls, Goldie and Sunday, at home, and a baby on the way. Erica has learned the lesson every mom eventually learns: grace beats perfection, and it only gets truer the more times you do this.
"The first time, I was very committed to maintaining my movement and lifestyle across the board. This third time, I'm still moving my body every day, but I've given myself immense grace as far as what that looks like. Sometimes it's a 20 minute walk. Sometimes it's an hour at the gym's childcare. Sometimes it's me stretching in my bedroom. If I were the version of myself from my first pregnancy, the “shoulds” and the guilt would have kicked in. This third time, the cushion of grace is definitely there."
That grace shows up everywhere. "I've had to let go of control a lot. The cleanliness of the house, how often I'm grocery shopping, making things from scratch. It's not necessarily how it looks. It's how it's feeling, and how my girls are feeling, and how I'm feeling." Instead of using nap time for chores, she's using it for herself: reading, walking, a podcast. Nourish mama, nourish baby. That's always been the whole point.
Why She Reaches for Nunona
Erica first discovered Nunona in the disorienting, dreamy window right after she gave birth to Sunday, when a friend sent her a box.
“I still remember opening it with that mix of exhaustion & wonder that only a fresh postpartum mama knows - ifykyk. But one mindless bite in, turned into a mindful moment, and I was like: “oh… this is good…"
In the newborn vortex, food stops being “meals” and becomes whatever you can eat with one hand while holding, nursing a baby with the other. Grab-and-go becomes a lifeline. And Nunona just gets that. These little bites are compressed whole, delicious foods into tiny orbs of ‘You’ve got this. You’re doing amazing.’
There’s this purity to them - probably because Krista, the founder, is both a mother and a nutritionist. You can feel that combination… the science, the heart, the devotion. My current obsession is the Dark Chocolate Cashew. And the sweetest bonus? Both of my girls love them too. There’s something so simple and special about sharing the same little bites with my babies.”
The Part Nobody Talks About Enough: Tandem Feeding
Here's the one Erica really wants moms to hear. She's been breastfeeding for four and a half years straight, through pregnancy and through tandem feeding two kids at once.
"Actually, I love tandem breastfeeding, nursing both of my babies, and I love nursing the toddler era, too. The initial response from society is, oh, you're still breastfeeding? Yes, it's draining and exhausting, but the experience of nourishing my children and giving them comfort, physically, emotionally, spiritually, has been so surprising."
She also credits it with keeping the peace between her girls: sharing this form of nourishment has eased tension between them, especially early on. Her ask: normalize it. There's more than one right way to feed a baby.
What Nobody Warns You About Postpartum
"The postpartum period, the one thing I remember especially with my first postpartum experience, was how vulnerable and open I felt. You're more raw, more impressionable. I wish other mothers knew how important it is, what you're exposing yourself to in those early days. What you're watching, reading, putting in your body. How often you're having visitors."
It's not just about being nourished, she says. It's being mindful of who's in your village, and what you're absorbing while you're in it.
The Biggest Lie Social Media Tells About Motherhood
We asked Erica what the internet gets most wrong. Her answer hit hard.
"One of the biggest misconceptions social media creates is that motherhood is one specific experience. There's so much noise, people romanticize it, or talk about how hard it is. But the reality is that motherhood is all of those things at once. Constantly seeing one version can create guilt. If she's in the trenches while someone else is only sharing the beautiful moments, she may wonder, 'What am I doing wrong?'"
Her take: motherhood isn't a single experience, it's a multitude of emotions and realities existing together. Joy, exhaustion, gratitude, frustration, love, all at once. That's the part social media tends to miss.
She shared a quote that's been on her mind, from Mark Nepo, about being human as a delicate dance between resiliency and fragility. "We're constantly twirling and dancing, and we're so resilient, but sometimes I don't want to be resilient. I just want to be held. There's times you're going to depend on your village, you're fragile, you're in the trenches, whatever it might be. And then you have others to hold you. All of it is okay. All of it is what makes us human. I think it's what makes us great moms."
Her One Piece of Advice
"Let yourself fall into motherhood hard. Let yourself get lost. Spiral into every facet of it, because in the end, you're going to rediscover yourself and become a version of yourself far beyond your wildest imagination. You're going to be so proud of the woman you're becoming. And already are."
Real Conversations, Real Moms, Real Nourishment
That's the whole reason we do this: real moments, real nourishment, real conversations, no filter. Thank you, Erica, for letting us in.
