7 Years Ago

Seven years ago my life changed.  It started with a girlfriend betting me that it wouldn't be long after being married that I'd be a Mommy.  It was that same girlfriend who told me I was pregnant before I even knew it myself.  Thanks Corina!

I took on being pregnant like a lot of the things I do in life.  It was project status!  I loved being pregnant.  There was never a happier time in my life.  I glowed.  I smiled a lot.  I also ate like a football player.  I read like crazy.  At first it was baby name books, then it was pregnancy books.  What to expect and when, where, what books.  I researched doctors.  No regular GP was going to do.  I managed to get one of Toronto's best OB's as my own.  Then I planned the nursery.  I even made a project (read: nesting crisis) out of finding the matching stool to my nursery rocker.  I had everything purchased and waiting for baby to come home.  I had my bag packed.  My birth plan mapped out.  10 months of painstaking planning cooked up the perfect pregnancy.

On the day, we were up before the crack of dawn.  At the hospital I was left on my own before the nurses came in to get me prepped.  I had a chance...just a small window to chat with my belly.  The belly would answer back in hasty nudges.  I had that one last moment to express my gratitude to this little being for choosing me as his mother.

Seven years ago, this little being changed my life.  I often wonder if a simple c-section included installing a much larger heart.  It seems my capacity to feel pain and joy, worry and elation increased 10 fold.  He came into this world with a head full of hair and crying like an opera singer.  Loud and robust.  To this day he hasn't changed a bit.  He still has that unimpressed look and is really loud.  I love everything that makes him who he is.  I love who he made me be.

Happy Birthday E!  Your crazy mother thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread.