The New Mom on the Block

I love being a mom more than I could have ever imagined. Often times when I was pregnant, women would get this sweet sparkle in their eye as they tried to explain the immense love a mother has for her child.  I would always smile and express how excited I was but kind of thought it was something women had to say to encourage the next generation of mothers.  As I am sure the two of you actually reading this blog already know (thanks mom & dad), I experienced this love six months ago when sweet Charlotte Susan was born.  I will spare you the details of the birth story for the greater good of the world wide web and fast forward to the part where I met my baby girl.

I jumped right up when she was born only to be loudly “instructed” to lay back down as the placenta was still intact and Charlotte was of course attached to it. I was ecstatic, elated, crying, and rejoicing for all to hear.  I immediately held her close and covered her beautiful slimy head with kisses telling her how perfect she was and how much I loved her. I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room, it felt like a cloud of peace and joy embraced us. It was such a humbling experience to receive such a precious gift from God and being trusted to raise her in this crazy world.  I now understood the motherly love that I had once viewed as some sort of fairy tale and my heart was forever changed.

Next thing I know I am up all night with my screaming angel begging for the nursery to silence my little miracle. I would let you know how that first week went but I can barely remember it myself. I believe it was the perfect combination of utter exhaustion and excitement.  I was so thankful my parents were here our first week home and for all the help from Eli’s parents the second week.  I felt like I was getting the hang of it after a few weeks and started Charlotte on a pretty good schedule.  As I am sure most moms can attest getting in a routine brings sanity to all members in the home (at one point I was even expecting the pups to run away).  I was definitely a textbook new mom.  I would fall asleep researching parenting theories on the kindle and spent most of my social time picking the brains of any mom within earshot. Going to the post office with the baby would consume my entire day and I over packed for pretty much every outing.  I didn’t know what I was doing but I did know I loved Charlotte with everything I had and she deserved a mom that would give it her all. Now, fast forward to today and I am still your textbook new mom who doesn’t know what she is doing but all those women were right, I love this job more than I could have ever imagined. I praise the Lord daily for granting my desire to be a mom and am thankful for His guidance everyday!