I have a couple of boards that I'm pretty active in, and on one of them this morning, we were talking about how other mommies freak out new mommies about labor and delivery (l&d). It can be HORRIBLE, but mostly, it's not. Painful and disgusting, yes, but the result is such a miracle that you want to do it again and again. :-)
The discussion was basically about what happened during l&d that you didn't expect. One of the girls, Nikky, who is about 12 weeks pregnant with her second baby, put her thoughts together so beautifully: "What I didn't expect after labor and delivery, is to fall so completely head over heels in love with something so tiny. What I didn't expect after l&d, was to have every single one of my priorities shift, and this tiny, fragile, amazing, GORGEOUS creature would take up ALL of the top spots on my priority list. What I didn't expect after l&d is to be able to love something SO much that your chest wants to burst open, your heart almost aches with the love you have for this child. What I didn't expect after l&d was to not be able to put into words my feelings for this child. What I didn't expect after l&d is to know that I would give absolutely anything, anything, to ensure this creature's safety and happiness. "
That is so deeply, profoundly true. That love is PAINFUL. I love my husband so much, but it's nothing like what I feel for Izzy. The two emotions only seem to be vaguely related. He says it's the same for daddies too. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect that baby.
My crazy Uncle Larry (the one with the banana plantation in WV) sent me the following forward which I think is beautiful, and just maybe comes close to describing how much fun Chris and I are in for:
"The Cost of a Child
I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, really nice! The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite.
What do your get for your $160,140? Naming rights: first, middle, and last! Glimpses of God everyday. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jam. A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain. Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140, you never have to grow up.
You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney Land, and wishing on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have all the power to heal a booboo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost."
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