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

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Anger Management; or, Past, Present, Future

I've met many new mothers over the past few months. We're all sleep-deprived. We're all adjusting to new routines, new emotions, new bodies. We bond over breast-feeding and bottles, over going back to work or thinking about staying home, about the amazing and exciting strides our little guys and girls make almost every day. Some are younger, some are older, but we've all got something in common.

Still, I don't know if anyone else lost babies. Or if anyone else knows what it's like to sit with pants off on a paper-covered table waiting for doctors to help you make a baby. Or how it feels to stare at your umpteenth negative pregnancy test. Or what it's like to cry as you buy another package of tampons at the drug store. Or how it somehow hurts even more when you stop crying and pick up the tampons like business as usual.

I'm sure there are other people with other stories like mine or stories that put mine to shame. This post isn't really about that. It's about one important discovery I made the other day:

I'm not angry any more.

I can hear about an accidental pregnancy without tears. Or learn that a friend was mostly just freaked when she saw the positive sign without wanting to shank her.

I'm glad my Smudgie was as wanted as a baby could possibly be. I'm glad I knew with every fiber in my heart how lucky I am to have him, how lucky I've always been. There are possibly sad times ahead (though possibly--hey, why not try a little optimism?--we've paid our dues already). But right now, every moment with my little man is a precious kind of perfection.

Thank you for healing my heart, Smudgie dear. I love you, sleepless nights, constant laundry, and all.

13 comments:

  1. Love that last sentence, I'm so very happy for you Sloper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very, very sweet post. And of course you know how very happy I am for you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awwww....very lovely and well put.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You deserve every bit of the contentment you've found in Smudgie! Enjoy your holidays. We WILL be making a play date after the new year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love this post. I hope you guys have a fabulous holiday and am so glad we both have little ones to share them with this year :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aww. So sweet. Smudgie's pictures make me smile too, he's such a cute little imp.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I remember a day when you wrote on my blog: "We're living the same life. Email me." We were both in the worst kind of turmoil. And then, at some point, through some fluke of biology, I moved on. And I HATED that you didn't, especially because we had been able to share so much-- Now, this post validates all my selfish regrets between my pregnancy and yours. You state all of this just so beautifully... I wish we'd done our pregnancies in tandem!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh how I totally agree. Great post, my friend. Xoxo

    ReplyDelete