This week I sat and waited for the texts which would announce that my friends babies had entered the world. See I had a dear friend who was awaiting the arrival of her second daughter and a friend from mothers group who was clever enough to manage to grow two babies at the same time.
When I received the SMS that my friends daughter had entered the world I was so excited because being a parent you know how awesome this really is going to be. I think I was even more excited than when her first child was born.
I went off to the hospital to visit and held the tiny bundle of divine preciousness that is her sweet baby girl. Such a gift of potential and being a parent I was confident I could now hold the baby and not drop her on her head! My friend looked wonderful and we commented how you could lose hours just looking at how tiny eyelashes caress chubby cheeks and sleeping mouths are pursed into perfect cupid bow lips. And yes, she did have THAT beautiful baby smell.
I went alone to the hospital under strict instructions from my 3.yo of “don’t bring that baby home here mummy” and I guess I was wondering whether in the darkness of the hospital carpark the clucky stick was going to run at me from behind a parked car and whack me one.
Instead as I strolled to the car, by myself in silence, having left hubby home to do the bed and bathtime routine I was surprised at the feelings of relief that washed over me. Yes this precious life was gorgeous but she reminded me of the one I had already created rather than cause an upsurge of longing for ones yet to be created.
I was overwhelmingly glad that it wasn’t me.
As Raya approached her 3rd birthday people began to feel it was their job to remind me that I was approaching the second child deadline. It has even become the topic of conversation in the staffroom at work where I was informed I was “running out of time” and that I would end up with two children who were both like only children.
We all had a good laugh but people really are expecting me to announce I am expecting.
I expect, since I can now fight off the clucky stick with borrowed newborn cuddles, that people are going to be disappointed.
I visited two newborns in hospital in the last week and also avoided getting whacked by the clucky stick.
ReplyDeleteI can feel your pain about people expecting it of you. Apparently since I have only had two girls(how horrible!!) I must absolutely be dying to go back for a third just to have a boy ( because it would totally be guranteed to be a boy of course). So it seems the nosy comments never really stop...
I developed the same force field against the clucky stick after having Elliott. People simply cannot believe that I am not going to go back to "get my girl". I am perfectly content with the two wonderful lives that I have created, and have no desire whatsoever to create another one, just in case it happened to be of a different gender!
ReplyDeleteOh and then there are the comments when I get all clucky over a newborn... Just cause I can appreciate the beauty of a newborn and want to breath in all that newborny goodness, doesn't mean that I want another one of my own! Especially now that the two I have are approaching something resembling independence!