Reflecting - An 8 Year Journey

My baby ain't a baby anymore.  Eight short years ago, I learned what motherhood is all about.  I was in a hospital bed, having just convinced my husband to leave church and get to the hospital pronto, hoping he would get untied from his obligations before I dominoed baby #2.  I had a three year old at preschool who was none too happy about a baby sister showing up, threatening to take her crown as Diva of the house.  I had no cell phone, I hadn't brought my bag to the regularly scheduled doctor's appointment, and I now got to worry about whether or not Roxanne Skye would be a carrier of group B strep, which could make her ill since my water was broken.  And I was just sitting there, lonely, knowing that this was the day when I no longer had any amount of control of my life.  And when my husband left me alone with this Darby clone in the hospital so he could get the church bulletin finished, I knew the honeymoon was over.  One kid is a piece of cake when you are a minister's wife, but it is a whole different ballgame with baby #2, and I better adjust my expectations of "control" pretty quick.

Roxy's entrance into the world was not exactly what I anticipated.  Besides the fact that I had her without a planned epidural and my husband was sick in the bathroom due to profound anxiety, Roxy was peachy keen.  And, she screamed her head off.  The neonatologist had to check her because of the group B strep issue, and his comment was, "A sick child would never be this mad."

Rewind...did I just have an angry child?  Oh Lord, no!  I already had one of those. 

But thankfully for me, no one is angry anymore, Scott is no longer ill at the thought of fatherhood, and I have embraced reality:  I never had control and would never need control again.  Being a parent to two children makes you learn what you are really made of - you learn the diplomacy of compromise, the art of negotiation, and the cleverness of finding every free kids meal in town because you have to, just to get by.

Roxy completes this family beautifully.  She is so loving, so joyful, so thoughtful, and so ready to play at every moment of the day.  Which is exactly what this trio of nerds needed.  She keeps us laughing with all her Jim Carey-ish ways.  She loves completely and unconditionally and tells you all about it everyday.  What a joy.

Happy Birthday Rockstar!