New Additions...remembering mine with a smile

A friend of mine today had baby number three!  She had asked me last week if I could come over and throw two french braids in her hair so she didn't have to deal with the knots and tangles while laying in a hospital bed for the next three days.  She was already thinking of this baby first and how he would need all the love and attention she could give and her hair was just going to have to take a back seat.

I went over this morning around 8:30 to get those braids done before taking two of mine to camp and she was there...very calm about to have a baby in just six hours.  She had her other two clothes laid out on the table for the helping hands to easily find in her absence.  A swing was put in the corner away from all the toys of the older siblings so maybe this new addition can have a little bit of quiet time.  Life as usual was going on all around this pending new arrival...you could feel the excitement in the house.

They were blessed this afternoon with a healthy baby boy and I am sure she is taking all the time to look at those cute little toes and long skinny fingers.  Smelling that baby's head was always my favorite thing in the world to do.  And after having my third I really loved my stay in the hospital while family watched after the other two.  I am hoping my friend truly enjoys those quite moments in the hospital before her man on man defense turns into zone.

As I wished her well before I left this morning she said I am sure you don't miss all this...and the fact that you get to wear regular clothes.  In that moment, with all that excitement in the air...I did miss it.  I know that our family is complete and there will be no more Gs added to our six pack. It does make me sad that that phase of my life is now behind me...I still am changing diapers but they are not cute little swaddlers that actually smell good...I know bizarre that I like the smell of diapers-prior to use of course!  We pass through these phases so quickly and don't even know sometimes that we have left one behind.

Each of my four babies brought so many new and exciting things into my life.  Yes I gained fifty pounds with each child...ate a lot of salty meats and craved all the cheeses I was not allowed to eat while pregnant...but I really loved being pregnant each time.  My first I was told he was a girl according to the sonogram...out came a bouncing baby boy-that was a tough one to wrap my head around!  My second was the little girl that I tried to have in the same timeline as G1 so I could use all those cute little girl clothes I received at my baby shower three years prior.  G3 was exciting as the older ones were now aware of the process and getting excited to be helpers.  Our family was getting bigger with every big belly that appeared in our home.  When G3 arrived I was so excited that G2 had a sister...something I always wanted.  And then G4 arrived after putting me on bedrest for a bit, he was almost telling me to slow down before he arrived...and he made the perfect bookend to our family.  He has brought all that fun and silliness that a boy can bring that we haven't seen in a few years as they were covered in princess dressups and nailpolish.

As my kids are getting bigger and doing more mature things I at times think that I am staying stagnant in my life...however my birthday seems to still come every year so I guess I am getting older.  Those days of sleepless nights due to feedings and a house filled with cute little plush toys and playmats are far behind me.  My aunt has always said...bigger kids...bigger problems and as my oldest are just 11 and 8 I know that I haven't even touched the edge of this iceberg.  Time moves on and as slow as the days can be I do know that these years are going quickly.

G1-G4

So the joy and excitement that my friend is feeling today as she lays in that hospital room with the beeping machines and she jumps up as her baby is coughing trying to clear his throat...it's all new again.  That is an excitement many are lucky enough to have more than once and I still look back and treasure each of those first quiet moments.  I don't long for those days but I do look back upon them and have a huge smile on my face.  I loved becoming a mother.  It was worth every bit of sacrifice that was made over the 36 months of pregnancy and 48 months nursing and then the years in between trying to find the me that was hidden in this exhausted body!!  I have managed to resurface a stronger woman than I went in...and one that has learned many lessons through these four kiddos.  There wasn't too much suck that I had to embrace over those early years...I was very fortunate.

Kiss your kids, hug your spouse...remember that excitement and love you felt...and sometimes take those moments and play them in your head when you are in fact embracing the suck that is the day to day...and hopefully it will make you smile.

Congrats to the O family...enjoy that new bundle...I can't wait to smell his head!

Embrace the suck...choose you!