A blog about babies: the babies I lost, the babies I never had, the baby who made me a Mama.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

What We Think; or, What We Can't Say

Before I started trying to conceive, I spent a few months visiting IF and loss blogs. I'm not sure why--intuition? fear? happenstance? I found one blog through The Nest (as it was pre-Bump), became entranced in the writer's story, cheered when she got her BFP after two long years, rejoiced when she brought her daughter home. And from there, I discovered dozens of other blogs that made me laugh, cry, and--eventually--gave me comfort of my own.

In my early blog reading, I encountered an essay, or a prose poem. I can't remember all the lines, but I know it began with something like "There are mothers who have everything come easy to them, and I know they are good mothers, but I will be better."

I didn't agree with this, in those pre-TTC days. In fact, I was a little offended. "There are fantastic mothers who get pregnant at the drop of a hat," I thought (assuming, of course, that I would soon be one of them). "And there can be abusive mothers who struggled with IF, loss, and adoption." And of course, the opposite can be true, too. How one becomes a mother does not dictate the kind of mother (or person) that one is.

But now...how to confess what I now feel? What I tell myself to make this pain more bearable?

I tell myself that I will be happier when I hold my first child in my arms. I tell myself that the joy nearly every parent feels on that incredible day will be just a little better, a little sweeter, with the memory of my sadness to heighten it.

I tell myself that my family and friends will cry with me and laugh with me and celebrate with me in a way that they couldn't or wouldn't if we hadn't been through this. Just as I celebrate with my whole heart when a woman who has faced conception struggles (whether a blogger or real life friend) finally welcomes her child.

I don't tell myself I'll be a "better" mother. But when I talk to my pregnant and recent-mom friends--even my dearest and most beloved--in the back of my mind is a little thought. "One day I will be happier than you can even imagine."

I don't know if it's true. I doubt that it's fair. And maybe it's not healthy. But for those few moments I have that thought, I feel like I can suck it up and muddle through.

So that's what I tell myself.

3 comments:

  1. Having been on both the 'easy conception and healthy birth' side of the fence, and now the 'struggling to stay pregnant' side, I know that as over-the-moon-in-love I was with my son, I took a certain amount of his health for granted. I was as happy as I can ever imagine being when I first met him in this world, but I didn't realise quite what a miracle it is that any child is born given the vast number of things that can go wrong before birth.

    You will know that when you get to hold your first baby in your arms.

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  2. I totally get this.

    It's not that I believe that I'll be a "better" mother... it's just that I know I'll appreciate the conception of my child more than someone who is lucky enough to get pregnant without really trying.

    I won't take for granted the miracle of all things that had to perfectly align...the doctor's appointments, meds, or the time it took to get me there.

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  3. This is so very articulate and exactly how I feel.

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