Oh the Mother You Become

When you have your first baby, you research everything you can. You have What to Expect when you're Expecting and What to Expect the First Year and probably even What to Expect the Toddler Years on your book shelf. You call your OB when the baby kicks too hard or too soft. You spend the last half of your pregnancy wondering if you'll know when you're really and labor and even when you are in labor you wonder if you're really in labor. When you have the baby, you call the ped when he has a fever of 98.9 only to be told to calm down. You have the ped's number on speed dial and soon know every nurse by first name. They get sick of seeing you because you're constantly bringing the baby into the office. You write down everything that goes in and out of your baby for the first three months. When he starts sleeping through the night you wake up in a panic for at least a month and rush into his room to check on him - thus waking him up and disturbing his peaceful sleep. When the baby starts crawling, you pad the entire house in rubber - to the point where it would have been cheaper to put him in a rubber room. The first time he bumps his head, you cry more than he does (and you call the ped's office). When he starts walking, you look into toddler sized knee pads and helmets because every rubber padded point in the house looks deadly. At his first birthday, because you read online that he should be saying so many words, you start obsessively listening to every sylabol that comes out of his little mouth and then attempt to interpret it into a word. When you go to the park, you hover so close to him that you'd be better off climbing on the equipment with him - but the equipment isn't built for adults so you'd probably fall off sooner than he would. By the time he's two, you're strung out and tired. You haven't really slept in two years.

And then you find out you're pregnant with your second baby. Because you haven't slept in two years, you've managed to forget most of what happened with your first pregnancy. You do, however, remember the looks the OB nurses gave you when you called in every other day. So you don't call nearly as often. You dig out the What to Expect series again when you have questions instead of pestering your OB as often. You may still over react a little but you're far less of a pest and the nurses don't give you the look anymore. When your baby is about due, you start to have a little freak out about how your toddler is going to handle you being gone for a couple days and the new baby. You start reading about ways to introduce the siblings. You even find a sibling class for your toddler so he is properly prepared. After you have the baby, you once again chart everything that goes in and out of the baby; but this time for only a couple weeks. You now let the fever get to around 100 before you start pestering the peds' office. You only dig out about half the rubber baby proofing and while you hug and kiss your baby when he falls, you don't cry about every fall. You only freak out for a couple weeks when the baby starts sleeping through the night. When you take both your kids to the park you try to flit between your now preschooler and your soon to be toddler but your preschooler gets more and more freedom. When he falls and scratches himself up you kiss it and make it better and send him on his way. It's now been over 4 years since you've really slept, your preschooler is getting ready for Pre-Kindergarten and your "baby" is almost 2.

And then you find out you're pregnant with number three! You call you OB when you're in labor or bleeding. You chart the eating and pooping patterns of your newborn for your stay in the hospital only because the nurses ask you every hour. You call your ped's office when the temperature hits 102. You let your 4 year old change your 2 year olds diaper because you're busy with the baby. You don't bust out any of the rubber padding for the edges or walls. You inwardly celebrate when the baby doesn't start crawling until she's 9 months old because she mostly stays where you put her for so much longer. When you take all three of them to the park, you let the other two do their thing while you hold the baby.

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Okay so some of it's an exaggeration. ;) But you get the general idea.