I’m a Mom! (For real this time.)
Monday, April 11th, 2011From Monday Mom – Neetika:
As you may have heard, my husband and I welcomed our beautiful baby into the world last week. We didn’t know what gender we were having beforehand. Everyone said I was having a boy. I had that classic “boy carry”—a tight basketball shape sitting high on my belly. Of course, it’s a girl.
And I couldn’t be happier. When the doctor put her on my chest, I was stunned. My husband cried a little, but I was just in shock. As they took her aside to check her out and clean her up, I turned my head and strained to look at her and process what was happening. I was loopy from the delivery and I just kept saying to my husband, “I love her. I love her. I love her.”
We were undecided on names, especially for a girl. But that was silly, because it seems like she came with a name, somehow—Haley.
These days, Haley is really into sleeping, feeding and screaming. Her grandparents like to talk about how feisty she is, how she does what she wants, how smart and athletic she’ll be. Perhaps that’s all true, but I’m very cognizant of the fact that she’s only few days old, and her personality will continue to develop. It’s not that I’m against fawning over her and talking about how perfect she is, because she is. Yet I feel as her mother, my role is to take her as she comes. And I won’t want to put any of my perceptions on her.
All I need to do is make sure that she has every opportunity to thrive, and that she knows how much we love her. I may not be the perfect mother, but I will always try to be, because that is what Haley deserves.