A Baby is Born, and so is a New Mom

I started crying the moment it happened.  I laid my head back in both physical and emotional exhaustion.  About 15 people were swarming around the room tending to me and tending to her.  Nurses asked from across the room, "You want her vaccinated right?"  Um... yes... yes I think so.  "Do you want her cleaned off first before she comes to you or are you doing skin to skin?" they continued.  Am I horrible if I want her cleaned off first?  Then it happened.  They gave her to my husband and he handed her to me for the first time (cleaned off and swaddled in a blanket.)  In that moment I became a mom.  Snap.  From twenty-something to mom.  We looked at each other as if we were the only two in the room.  So you're the one who has been kicking my ribs?  You're the one I've seen on the 8 sonograms?  I can only imagine what she was thinking.  A saw the flash of a camera go off as my doting husband captured our first encounter.  Mom confession: I cringed at the thought of what I looked like in that moment.  I could really have used a coat of new mascara and should have gone for the shower they offered me hours ago.  No, no, focus.  Be in the moment, don't worry about the pictures.

Six weeks ago I became mom to baby C.  In that time I've learned a lot about what it takes to be a mom.  It hasn't been easy, but it has been pretty funny.  Thank God my husband and I can laugh at the mistakes we have already made (so much for perfection!)  I am not going to blog about knowing it all.  I certainly don't and never will.  But I will blog about the advice I do have for other new moms or moms-to-be.  I had wonderful new moms around me throughout my pregnancy who told me EVERYTHING I needed to know along the way.  From getting my butt swabbed for the Strep B test (yes that happens) to being watched while I peed in the hospital after delivery) those moms had be prepped.  Without that, this experience would have been a hot mess.  So, allow me to be the new mom in your life that can tell you what's about to happen.  Trust me, you'd rather hear it from me first before you're on the toilet with a nurse ringing water over your vagina.