When You Have a Baby...

I was feeding Lucy her "dream-feed" bottle last night at 11pm, and as I was looking down at her under the faint glow of hallway light spilling into her room, I thought of a few ways my life has changed since she arrived.

When you have a baby... 

* Every fiber of your being opens up to love your "little peanut."

* You will find yourself doing the craziest things in public, just to see her smile.

* You will appreciate the smell of her breath and you'll wish you could capture that scent and put it in a jar to keep forever.

*All of the sudden your hearing intensifies and you can pick out her cry among all the other loud noise across a huge department store. 

* You don't care about getting your brand new shirt dirty (that you JUST put on).  In fact, that's what you use to wipe up spit up and snot and drool.
*You forget what sleeping in feels like.

* You appreciate her dirty diapers because that means she doesn't have a tummy ache and she's developing regularly.

* You have to plan to leave the house an extra 15 minutes early, knowing that you'll actually be leaving the house 15 minutes late.

* You don't come home on Friday and Saturday nights at 2 am anymore; instead you're awake at 2am feeding a crying baby.

* You know another tiny person's body better than they'll know it for years.  You notice each new freckle, scratch, bump, hair, wrinkle, etc.  You even notice the new rolls on her thighs :)

* You know what certain sighs indicate.  

* You know what each and every tone of her voice means.  You can tell the difference between the regular talking, the high pitched cranky whining, the hurt and scared shrills, the annoyed crying, the uncomfortable whimpers, the "I'm hungry, NOW" fussing, etc.  To everyone else, it all sounds the same.

* You know how many seconds you have to wipe off her hands and face before she screams at you.
* You're much more aware of germs- you carry hand sanitizer everywhere.  You're more cautious when you drive.  You walk a little slower.  You pick up anything on the floor that could be "dangerous" to curious little ones.  You turn the TV and radio volume down.  You roll up the windows. 
*Your arms and hands can now do 13 things at once- you even learn to accomplish tasks with your feet!
*You come up with every sweet food in the world (mostly desserts) and use those words as terms of endearment.

* You know the best bath temperature, the best bottle temperature, and the preferred consistency of her rice cereal.

* You can run your fingers over her warm, round cheeks in the dark while she sleeps and marvel at the softness of new baby skin.

* You can forget about going out on the town in new heels with a new purse and a fancy hair-do.  Your purse is now a diaper bag, your hair is in a perpetual ponytail, and there's no WAY you can wear heels while lugging around a very heavy car seat.
* You learn to slow down; you pace yourself and enjoy all the simple little things.

* You prefer staying home in sweats every night while sitting on the couch playing with your baby.  The laughs and smiles and songs are more fun to witness than anything else.  Ever. 

* Your heart grows bigger than you ever thought possible.  You love this tiny person whom you created in a new way, with an intensity that you never could have imagined in your pre-baby days.  

* You would literally give your life to protect her.  Your world revolves around keeping her safe and happy.  

When you have a baby, your world flips upside down and turns around and you will never, EVER, be the same.  You will never be quite as obsessed with anyone or anything as you are with your little one, and  you will never know true happiness until the day your baby makes her grand entrance into the world.  And you wouldn't change a thing.