My little boy, Lucas, was born just over 4 months ago and I
have decided to create a little keepsake of my memories to look back on in the
months and years to come. Some memories
of him, some of my time as a mum and some other little events that have made me
laugh, cry or otherwise. I don’t imagine
that he will ever read back on these words but if he does I hope he knows how
much I love him – if he doesn’t know yet then perhaps the fact that he is still
allowed in my house at the moment, 50 minutes into his latest crying fit, should
be an indication, I mean if this is what they call sleeping like a baby, none
of us have any hope!
Oh no, there’s much worse news, he’s just gone quiet and my
husband has just said “I think he’s gone down”, if ever there were a bad omen these
immortal words are always the start.
I digress! The last 4 and a half months have been without a
doubt the most emotional of my life.
From the tears of joy shed in the birthing pool when I pulled him out of
the water and into this world to the moment when my husband came home from work
and on hearing the baby crying said to me “are you alright?”, to which I
responded, “DO I LOOK ALRIGHT??? - I have a cushion over my head, no one with a
cushion over their head is ever alright!”
But I wouldn’t change them for the world. Okay, maybe I’d have asked for a bit less
crying and a bit more sleep, but on the whole, my life has changed for good and
I have never once regretted that.
Some friends and I were talking a while back about the
comments people make when you tell them you are pregnant. With the exception of a couple of our family
members who went out of their way to tell us how amazing babies are, the
majority of people, strangers and old friends alike, seem to focus so much on
the negatives; ‘Goodbye sleep’, ‘They’re a handful’, ‘You won’t be able to
enjoy anything ever again...’ I admit, I was ill prepared for the lack of
sleep, the energy required and the total inability to ever doing anything in
the spur of the moment but this was despite the warnings. These comments only served to make me nervous
in the latter stages of my pregnancy about whether we’d made the right choice,
if we’d really thought this through. But
I can tell any expecting mums, my sister included, that all of this is
immaterial. These things are fact, your
body adapts, you change your lifestyle so that it suits your changing needs and
you find your way through. But every
time you stumble or think it’s too difficult to cope any more, your little one
will look you in the eye, and if you’re very lucky, smile at you, and suddenly
you find the strength for anything that lies ahead, even if you do it with your
eyes closed and a cushion over your head.
I intend to offer full disclosure on the good, the bad and
the ugly in my posts but for now, I want to say, if you’re pregnant and nervous, or in the early days and struggling to imagine the good times ahead, I promise
you, it is absolutely the best journey I have ever been on. (Although I was pregnant when I went to
Disneyland Florida last year, so this could have been different. But I doubt it.)
Now I need to go and retrieve the dog chew I’ve just heard
by dog bury in our bed...Fresh sheets as well, Lucas was sick on the old ones.
#Ilovebeingamum
Brilliant idea
ReplyDelete