Today my baby is three years old.
She’s hardly a baby, I know, but today I look at her and I think about the day she was born.
I can’t recall what my life was like without her… she is the embodiment of love and joy. I know I’m not alone when I share this. I’m sure there are many mothers out there who can identify with the change that takes place deep within you after you’ve given birth to your first child.
The immediacy and reality of motherhood… in an instant you’ve become responsible for another human being.
My greatest memory from January 7, 2008 was the few moments after my daughter was delivered. There was a panic in the room because in the last push, the umbilical cord had wrapped around my daughter’s neck. Everyone was so focused on ensuring her well-being that my husband and I had to ask if we had a boy or girl.
I could only hold my daughter for a few short moments because there was concern about her health. However, in those moments I remember looking down at her bruised and swollen face, her tear-filled eyes, and thinking that the past seventeen hours may have possibly been harder on her than on me. Then I spoke to her and said, “Hello my little girl… I love you so much.”
She looked at me.
My heart leapt.
My heart could not hold all the love that I felt in that moment, so it spilled out of the corners of my eyes.
I cried.
I was a mom.
This beautiful person was my daughter.
Happy Birthday… my sweet little girl. Today, tomorrow, always and forever I will love you.