Babies.
Most females my age love the little bundles; they like to kiss, hug, and jostle
about the squirming creature and they enjoy cooing and soothing and holding all
the while making it look easy and natural.
I, on the other
hand, am different. Much different.
Put a baby in my
arms and I become as wide-eyed, stiff, and awkward as can be.
Babies scare me.
They’re fragile. Their necks flop about and they are so hard to dress; it took
me forever to learn how to button onsies (so many buttons!) and I’m scared stiff
to pull their little t-shirts over their little faces.
Back in Alaska I’m
known for putting a baby’s diaper on backward.
Toddlers aren’t any
better—instead of enjoying the cute faces they make I spend energy worrying
about whether or not they’ll choke on a carrot or if it’s time to change the
diaper.
Finally, the birth
process. Oi. I have ever so many questions
about the pregnancy. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a miraculous event and I
believe motherhood in all its stages is beautiful. But what about weight gain, labor, pain and
all those doctor visits?
You see, I’ve never
had any little people in the house to take care of. When my sister and I
babysat she would take care of the babies and I would take care of the cleaning;
we made a great team and I relished the chance to avoid those fragile, precious
packages.
Last week I had the
chance to visit with a friend who recently had her first baby. We talked about
little things at first; I was afraid becoming a mom had totally changed her.
Then we began to talk about it, the
baby and the birth.
“Was it painful?”
“How has your body
adjusted?”
“How did you handle
all those doctors?”
“Was the umbilical
cord . . . creepy?” J Ever since I watched an episode of “I Didn’t Know
I was Pregnant” the umbilical cord has resembled something alive from the SciFi
channel! Eeek!
It was so good for
me to ask real questions and to hear honest answers. It was such relief to know
that pregnancy and labor are hard but well worth it. It was such a blessing to
see how God carried her through her pregnancy and labor and how the pain is now
drifting into the past . . . just like He promised.
So, am I ready to
pick up every baby I see?
No.
But am excited to
see the little ways God molds and changes my heart and soothes my fears?
Absolutely.
With love,
Frannie
The baby about babies
Like that baby carriage? Me too! Find it here.