Becoming Mom

A friend of mine came to visit us in the hospital and asked me about what it feels like to become a mom. She wanted to know if I was hit immediately with the "oh wow, this is my baby and the center of my world" feeling or if it took a while.

And the answer is...yes.

When Eliah was born it was the most incredible moment of my life (and it's impossible to describe without resorting to cliches like that!). This was my daughter they were putting on my stomach. But at that moment I was also seriously sleep deprived and under the influence of some heavy drugs. So I don't think it totally sank in.

In fact, it's taken a few days for me to really get my head around the whole mom thing. The first hours post-partum were a whirl of tests and doctors and nurses and a few winks of sleep and learning to breastfeed and figuring out how to support her head and worrying that I'd drop her and a million other things.

Since we've gotten home, though, I've had time to get to know her -- my daughter! -- and I love her more every second. She's mine, darn it, and sometimes just thinking about that makes me tear up.