My Baby

A friend of mine is having a baby in March and I was reading her blog about some concerns she has and anticipation of the big event that changes everything.  This is totally normal.  She had a couple of comments from others saying that she'll be wanting her baby back in because it will be easier to take care of him and less trouble.  Pardon my late-night soapboxing, and I don't mean to offend, but this is something that I actually feel strongly about.  I have never wanted Ty to go away or to put him back.  Sure, it's not super fun when he's teething and screaming so my ears ring or wakes up earlier than I want to or poops all over his clothes when we're in the grocery store which has no changing table, but the good far out-weighs the bad.  Since when were babies supposed to be "less trouble" or convenient, anyway?  I'll confess that as the due (induction) date drew closer, my biggest fear was not labor pains or a long recovery, but was that I wouldn't love my baby right away/enough.  I seriously was concerned.  It's hard to know that you'll love someone you haven't met, that you didn't choose, and carries some of your own traits which may (unfortunately) be the less desirable ones.  Luckily, my fears were quickly dispelled and I couldn't get enough of just looking at my new baby boy.  As you may know, Russell had to leave to go back to school the day after Ty was born while we were still in the hospital.  My mom can attest I cried a lot anytime I thought of what Russell was missing out on.  THAT was the worst part of being a new parent--not having Russell to share in how incredible our baby was.  Pretty sure I only got a couple of hours of sleep each night and, frankly, the whole first week of Ty's life is a blur of dr.'s appointments, unsuccessful feeding, administering to my traumatized body, and being in complete awe at this new baby. 

I feel sorry for anyone who wishes they could put back their baby, hormone-wackiness aside.  Sleep deprivation and inconvenience are small prices to pay for being a mom.  Maybe all babies aren't as awesome as mine so others have justification for their thoughts.  I already miss teeny tiny Ty and tiny Ty and now we have little Ty who is super fun and playful.  Seriously, although he has lots of toys and I have lots to do, I love just playing with him and laughing together (he has started laughing when we laugh).  Maybe it's easier to feel this way while Ty's sweetly asleep in the other room, but I know that's not it.  Our little family isn't perfect, but thanks to little Ty, the joy has been brought.

So, to my friend, love your baby and love every part of your life with him.  There is no such thing as too tired or too worn-out when you're taking care of your new little guy.  There's just too much good stuff.  :)