A New Mom View

Hello, My Journey into Motherhood readers! I'm Laura, and I blog over at Between the Lines regularly. I'm honored to be guest blogging today for Daisy, as this is my first time guest blogging. Just a few weeks ago, I took on a week full of guest bloggers, and Daisy guest blogged for me, so, when she asked me to do the same for her, I was honored and excited!

I was asked to blog about motherhood today. I'm a new mom, so, please note that everything I'm going to say is from my new mom perspective.

I've been a mother for a few days shy of 6 months. My son, Ethan, was born on January 7th, a week earlier than his due date exactly. Ethan was due January 14th, but a little less than 2 weeks before my due date, we discovered he was breech. At that time, a c-section was scheduled for 39 weeks, which was January 7th.

But I won't talk about Ethan's birth. I'll talk about the joy it's been having this little boy in my life since his birth.

When you're pregnant, and even before you reach that point, you hear many, many people tell you once you're a mother, everything will change. You'll hear things such as, "Your life will change so much!" and, "You don't know love until you hold that little baby!" and you politely smile and nod. But it's true. So, so true. It's incredible the way you feel when you hold that little baby in your arms for the first time. And one month, two months, three, four, five, almost six months in...I'm amazed at how much that love grows on a daily basis.

Ethan is forever changing. Ask his grandparents and the people at our church who always say he has changed since the last time they saw him from week to week. He changes constantly, not only his physical appearance, but what he does. He's constantly learning and doing new things and trying new things, and it's such a joy.

I'm told I have an easy baby. I'm told I'm lucky. Ethan is a happy baby. There are days he doesn't cry at all - not even once. He's been sleeping straight through the night since he was 3 months old. He took to solids right at 4 months old. This past week we transitioned him from his sleeper in our room to his crib. One week under our belt, he's doing amazingly well.

But I can assure you, even though Ethan is my first baby, and I'm "lucky" and I have an "easy" baby, that even if your child isn't "easy" and things get "hard" - because they do, no matter HOW easy your baby is - it's always worth it. It's always amazing. You'll still find yourself rocking that almost-6-month-old to sleep with tears in your eyes because you're just in awe at this little life.

Motherhood is amazing. It's what I was meant to do - be a mom. When I first met my husband, when we were dating and getting serious (which happened immediately, as we met, and a month later he was deployed to Kosovo), I told him I felt I was meant to be a stay-at-home mom. I was working at a pharmacy at the time, and I told him I loved my job, but I saw myself doing what my mom did - being a stay-at-home mom - because I remembered how great it was, as the child, having my mom at home. And now, I'm lucky enough to have been a "full-time" stay-at-home mom for 5 months, and I'm now back at the pharmacy, working a few hours a night, but still staying at home with my babe during the day every day. Because even though he's "easy" and I'm "lucky" I'm still human, I still need human interaction, and I still need a few hours away from my house. Being able to both stay at home and work and get out almost daily makes me feel even luckier than people tell me I am. A day doesn't go by where I am not thankful to God for the opportunities my little family has been blessed with.

My life is complete. And it's all because of him. Not that 70 lb. blonde...that's Zia, our Yellow Lab, also known as Ethan's BFF...he loves her. ;)

Motherhood is amazing, but it's not all rainbows and butterflies. The parts that aren't rainbows and butterflies, however, you will hardly remember, because just as quickly as those times may come, they are covered up by a simple glance at that little miracle you created...the one that continues to grow and learn and flourish because of you and that amazing love.

In my birth story, I said it pretty plainly but wholeheartedly. Within moments of his first breaths, "When I spoke, he reacted. When Jarrod spoke, he reacted. He knew us. We were his."

We are his. And I wouldn't trade this "job title" for the world.