A baby changes your life...
Lots of people told me this would happen when I was pregnant. "Enjoy your pregnancy," they'd warn, "having a baby changes everything."
I would nod politely, but I didn't quite get what that meant. How can everything change? I am still the same person; so is my husband. We would just have another little human to share our joy with. What was all the fuss about?
Bathroom visits are now considered "me-time" moments. Don't be thrilled, even they don't last too long.
Turns out, fuss is really what babies are all about. They get fussy about food, about sleep, about who holds them (that is not their mother).
The most shocking change was my body. I didn't recognise it after the baby was born. My tummy looked like a baby was still in there. I even checked with my doctor if she got everyone out.
Common sense? What's that?
The second change was that common sense goes out of the window. To illustrate: A relative of mine is a practicing doctor. She's studied medicine for 12 years of her life—including specialization and super-specialization and super-super-specialization (you get the gist).
Then she got pregnant. And then she had a baby. And in the moments she took to deliver a baby, it was almost like as if 12 years of medical study made its way out of her system along with the newborn.
She panicked. About everything. "Why is the baby not feeding enough? Why is the baby sleeping so much?" (YES, that can be a problem apparently for some moms). And after the first vaccination was done, she was so broken she was contemplating why vaccinations need to be given to a child in the first place. Like I said, 12 years of medical study gone down the drain.
Your life stops being about you. And it starts being about this little bundle of cuteness. Another noticeable difference (a superficial one!) is that the gifts stop being directed to you. They are all for the baby. Hello my best friend from London, where is my stuff exactly?
Bathroom visits
A baby takes over your life. Bathroom visits are now considered "me-time" moments. Don't be thrilled, even they don't last too long. Somehow babies have a knack of knowing exactly when you've entered the bathroom. And they take all of two seconds to let you know that. One shrill yell is all that it takes to get you out of that door. Dear bathroom, I'll be back (hopefully, today).
So that's what love is
But jokes aside, having a baby changes you. You think you know what love is all about? Honey, have a baby.
The cuddles, the faces, the yawns, the strange noises, the giggles, the manly burps. Somehow, every single thing the baby does is the cutest thing in the world. I mean, did you see her blink? Awww.
You think you know what love is all about? Honey, have a baby.
If you are anything like me, you may realize that your life was superficial before, and a baby adds new meaning to everything that you do. You value your time more; you realize you have so little of it especially when you see how quickly they grow. They make you look at everything differently. And when they start growing up, they teach you life's greatest lessons through their uncanny innocent ways.
Having a baby really does change everything. It changes what you know about love. The term "unconditional love", I am sure, was coined thanks to children. And love, after all, is everything.