Sunday, November 1, 2009

Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe Easy


I cannot believe that my due date is a mere 7 days away (hopefully not longer!). I am feeling many uncomfortable pangs these days, everything from mild back pain to heartburn to excruciating pelvic pressure. All I can do is keep myself occupied, continue to ready the house for baby and try to get some sleep in here and there.

As the date approaches, I am getting more nervous, excited too, but a bit anxious. I try not to read TOO much information about babies these days and I am relying more on what my doctor tells me at each visit rather than the stack of printed materials they shower me with. Not that I don't enjoy reading about how to make sure baby's umbilical cor doesn't get infected, how to install a car seat properly, how to breastfeed properly and how to protect against SIDS, Flat Head Syndrome and Rickets all in one sitting, but I find that too much information, taken in all at once is more conducive to a full blown anxiety attack than to feeling like a well informed, confident parent.

So...as the days tick by, I have been looking around our nursery with a sense of pride at all the preparation that we have gotten done, I wonder at every quiet, peaceful moment with my husband, "is this the last one of these we'll have" and I get a little anxious thinking about this whole new life we are entering into. But above all, I am trying to keep the faith. Faith that my marriage will be strong enough to withstand sleepless nights along with a mountain of chores and bills, faith that my baby will be healthy and strong, faith that together my husband and I will raise a well adjusted child that will choose the moral high ground no matter what this crazy world might try to throw at him. I am realizing that now, more than ever, I need to stay present, live in the moment and take things one day at a time. All I can do is try my best and hope that with a mountain of faith, a whole lot of patience, and a little wisdom, everything will be all right!!

So here, as I begin, just like so many women before me have and countless women after me will, an anxious but eager warrior, facing the unknown with a sense of trepidation and wonder, committing to protect my baby from environmental pollutants, flat head syndrome, buck teeth, rickets and vitamin D deficiency, I will use the tools that life has given me to try and figure it all out in time. Throughout this journey, I will continue to work with my doctors, my husband, my baby and my own best instincts to provide my child with the best life that I can provide him.

In doing this, I can rest assured of at least this much- that at the end of the day, although I might be new to this, and although situations may be thrown at me that I have no idea how to handle, I will pray for wisdom, do my best and continue to observe life (mine, my husbands and my child's) as it unfold around me, exactly as God has intended it to.

Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe Easy,

-New Mommy in Town