Look Out For Mr. Stork...

Motherhood came as a bit of a surprise to me. Okay, I'll be honest... a MAJOR surprise. Will and I had only just gotten engaged when I had that, "Hmmmm... I wonder if I'm pregnant" moment. At that time, he still lived in England, we were both still in college, and we hadn't even thought about planning our wedding yet, let alone preparing for a little baby.

But little pink plus signs don't lie, and only 4 months after our wedding, Gracie was born. SURPRISE! It was useless to tell people that Gracie was 5 months premature. She was a 21 inch long, 7 lb-er and very alive and kicking.
I celebrated my first Mother's Day on the day Gracie came home from the hospital. I was very unsure of it all. My pregnancy had been rotten, and labor and delivery were even worse. I had to be induced when she was a week past her due date and my blood pressure was on the rise.

I fainted when I got to the hospital and the last thing I remember before I blacked out was the nurse screaming that Gracie's heartbeat had dropped and I'd need an emergency c-section. But I was given enough oxygen to keep on going, so I got to enjoy 24 hours of labor, with back labor being a major part of it all.

And, since Gracie was sunny-side-up and not coming out, the nurses had me twisted into all sorts of positions - my hospital gown open, my bare backside exposed for all to see -- and of course, my lovely husband chose to turn to my grandma and mom, who were there in the labor room with us, and say, "I believe it was a position like that which got us into this mess in the first place."

Mom and Grammy were not amused. Neither was I. I promptly kicked everyone out of my hospital room, so I could suffer in peace and quiet.

And then, after it all, I had to have a C-section... unmedicated on the right side of my body, since my epidural had shifted. After a delivery like that, I had really hoped for some rest and relaxation to go with the twelve tons of morphine pumped into my body.

Who was I kidding? We now had this screaming little peanut who refused to sleep for even a second and spent every waking moment hiccuping and messing her itsy bitsy little diapers. And, as all moms know, baby diapers are virtually useless, since every mess ends up about 10% in the diaper and 90% everywhere else.

Four years after my very first Mother's Day, I'm still over-tired, over-stressed, and overwhelmed by my little girls.

But waking up to a card like this, which say's Happy Mother's Day (if you can't tell), certainly helps. Especially as I was able to stick in my ear-plugs and sleep in until noon today, only waking when Gracie and Annelie began bouncing on the bed beside me and Will stuck a pair of sparkling earrings, a plate of breakfast tacos and a cup of coffee under my nose.

When I think of Motherhood, I can't help but remember the lyrics to a song from Dumbo, which Gracie and Annelie listen to on their favorite Sing-a-long Songs DVD.

Look out for Mr. Stork
that persevering chap
To come along and drop
a bundle in your lap
You may be poor or rich,
it doesn't matter which
Millionaires they get theirs
like the butcher and the baker

So look out for Mr. Stork,
and let me tell you friend
Don't try to get away,
he'll find you in the end
He'll spot you out in China
or he'll fly to County Cork
So you better look out for Mr. Stork

Look out for Mr. Stork
He's got you on his list
And when he comes around,
its useless to resist
Remember those quintuplets
and the woman in the shoe
Maybe he's got his eye on you!

No matter how much you plan to be a parent (or in our case, don't plan at all), its definitely a surprise when that little person pops into the world and changes your life as you know it. As stressful and overwhelming as life is with my girls, I can't imagine my life without them. They really are the best little people I know.

Mom's out there --
and especially my own....

Happy Mother's Day!

xoxo,