On Becoming a Mom, AKA "Momming"

As someone who often has difficulty adapting to life changes, I was surprised how easy it was to switch to mother mode with no previous experience.  The transition to was not an effortful adjustment, as I had anticipated, but an automatic shift in thinking.  

The moment Scarlett entered this world my whole perspective on my life changed & it was no longer all about me.  Suddenly many of my wants & what I thought were needs, disappeared & my child's needs prevailed.  My pre-baby personal wish list was quite lengthy I am pretty sure, but recently when my husband tried to send me on a shopping trip one day as a little break, I didn't go because I could not think of anything I wanted to buy for myself.

Rodd & I have become less sensitive & more tolerable to each other's moods (OK, so mostly my moods), I supposed because we are tuned into our child's moods instead.  This becomes a new sport that neither of us have tried before & we make quite the team.  Learning new coping skills from one another & catering to  one another's needs (in relation to baby of course). When one of us has had enough we don't even have to look at each other, the other just knows its time to take over.  We've worked together to find out what baby is asking for & look for each other's approval when it comes to even the simplest decisions, like what should Scarlett wear today?

Things that were optional before no longer become optional.  For example, I don't crank the music up (& sing along at the top of my lungs) when we drive places anymore, with respect to the kid of course.  In fact I don't even have the desire to do that anymore.  Also, had it not been in the best interest of the baby, no way would I still be breastfeeding.  Putting up with the cringing pain during late night feedings seemed my only option, a non-negotiable sacrifice for my baby.  Before I would have hesitated to go to Shoppers to pick up whatever it was we were out of, & put it off.  But now its obvious, if baby needs it we will go get it, & will get it now before baby gets hungry again.

I can no longer think of myself without thinking of myself in relation to my daughter.  Now this little portable child of mine goes wherever I go & vice versa.  At this point I cannot be (& have not been) away from her for longer than a couple hours. The realization that she is here for good sunk in pretty quickly & I have had no reservations about it. Although it was not very long ago, I have a hard time picturing what it was like prior to baby, & find it hard to believe that at one time this little human being was no more that a question mark.

Life has changed, a new life has changed us, and although it has been an adjustment, I am proud to say I have found it so much more natural & instinctive than initially anticipated.  I love the new us & wouldn't change a thing.